


Fudō no Ryū

by Locksoli



Category: Tokyo Ghoul
Genre: Aftermath of Torture, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, America (mentioned) - Freeform, Dragons(technically?), Eto reunites with her father, F/F, F/M, Hallucinations, Implied/Referenced Suicide, OC is absolute unit, OC is troubled, Out of Character Eto, Past Torture, Physical Disability, Suicide Attempt, Torture in the Name of Science
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-08-17
Updated: 2019-08-17
Packaged: 2020-09-05 23:29:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con, Underage
Chapters: 10
Words: 101,268
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20281651
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Locksoli/pseuds/Locksoli
Summary: "For some reason, maybe through some force outside of your control, you and others like you, always end up with the short end of the stick...it's as if all of you, individually were destined to become… a tragedy." A boy escapes from a hellish life, and goes through the world, trying to find his own peace. (Heavily AU, somewhat OC-centric)





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> So I'm porting this from FF.net, mostly because the formats are off and I was hoping to reach another audience. This is my first Fanfic, the one I've spent more than a year on...and yet my other two fics somehow got more popular despite the fact that when I first started writing my second one, I barely had any idea of what I was doing until I was halfway finished the first chapter. This one, I know how it's gonna end, considering Tokyo Ghoul already has. Thing is, those last few chapters left a strange taste in my mouth, and this is a way of getting rid of it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Did a bit of a rewrite for the first chapter. Most of the other ones will get one as well, with the exception of a lot of the later chapters. This one includes a short prologue set in America.

**22 years before the Steel Beams Incident**

There was a massive stir throughout the courtroom as the accused was brought forth. The spectators shuffled in their seats, and many members of the jury flinched as the man was brought into the room. The men surrounding him held _cattle prods_ of all things in case he made the wrong move. It looked as though they would be useless on the man that was pulled through the room in chains.

He was an imposing figure, standing just a few centimeters over 8 feet tall. Despite his prison rags, he held himself in a dignified manner, unwilling to let anybody see him sulk at his unfair predicament. Messy black hair, nearly grey in some places, fell around his face and framed a pair of sapphire eyes that stared blankly at the onlookers.

The judge stared impassively as the accused was brought to the center of the well and forced to his knees. Beside the bench was a suited man, his reddish-brown skin and braided dark hair denoting his native american heritage. The man stroked his goatee as the giant looked up at the judge looming before him.

"Court is now in session!" the judge called out. "Would the accused like to say anything before we start?"

"Yes, I'd like to point out how my trial is unfair in both a legal aspect and in the constitutional sense," the giant's voice was low and somewhat sonorous, and it was easily heard throughout the courtroom. "For starters, I'm a human, and therefore I should be granted a lawyer. Also, I'm being tried as a ghoul...even though I am, like I said, a human."

"Objection!" a voice called out curtly.

"Of fucking course…" the giant muttered under his breath, turning as the only lawyer in the room stood to her feet.

She was an attractive woman in an expensive suit with dark-brown hair done in a bun, and glasses covering her amber colored eyes. She regarded the accused for a split second, rage filling her eyes, before looking back to the judge once again.

"Prosecution holds that Mr. Jameson sheltered multiple ghouls, fornicated with a ghoul, and actively protected the ghouls he housed when his home was raided," the woman scowled deeply at the giant. "The state of California and the Federal Department of Ghoul Control maintain that if Jameson is willing to 'play house' with a ghoul, he should be tried as one."

"Sustained," the judge said, not taking his eyes off of Jameson. "Arthur Phillip Jameson, you are charged with violating Sections 3 and 4 of the 13th* Amendment, appaling charges given your profession. You are also charged with assault and attempted murder. How do you plead?"

"Not guilty...well, not guilty to the first one, obviously," the giant set the judge with a blank stare. "I plead not guilty to the assault and attempted murder, since I was attacked on my legal property by others without warning."

"Objection!"

"...Sustained," the judge said slowly. "Anything else?"

"I plead guilty to murder," Arthur said, causing the jury and spectators to stir. "Over the course of my life, I have killed 67 ghouls, many in cold blood."

There was a short bout of laughter from the man next to the bench. The judge glared at him flatly, causing the native to shrug at him with a sheepish grin. The judge went back to coldly glaring at the giant.

"Quite an interesting viewpoint you have there, Mr. Jameson...tell me, did you develop it before or after you began harboring ghouls?"

"...I'd rather not respond, your honor."

"And tell me, where are the ghouls you harbored now?"

"Probably as far away as possible. It's been what, half a year? She's long gone-"

"_It_, Mr. Jameson," the judge curtly interjected. "_It_ is long gone."

Arthur stared impassively before continuing. "_She's_ probably deep in Mexico by now, maybe all the way into South America. I doubt I'll see _her_ again," a soft smile tugged at the corner of his lips as the judged fumed. 'Idiots, they'll never figure out she's probably gone to Japan instead…'

"You must realize how bad this looks for you, Mr. Jameson," the judge growled. "For a Ghoul Investigator to harbor ghouls, to put on airs of a romantic relationship with one and adopt her children. It's treason of the highest caliber."

"I never adopted any of my children."

"Objection! It isn't possible for him to have fathered children with a ghoul."

The suited native flinched and tugged at his collar, all while mumbling to himself. The judge noticed this and rounded on him.

"Mr. Fiddler, you of all people wouldn't be in a position to disagree with that, would you?"

Fiddler turned to the judge with a nervous look, before letting out a short sigh. "While the Federal Department of Ghoul Control does not have an official statement on it, the Fiddler family and the Namebin Doodem, as well as the Anishinaabe Nation, do acknowledge that there is a chance it could be possible," the native flinched as dozens of eyes turned to him. "At least, based on folklore, mythology, written accounts, and one actual account from europe that I won't go into detail over at this time."

The judge turned back to Jameson. "And you maintain that you did father children with a ghoul?"

"Yes, I do maintain it. I maintain that as fact, regardless of what others wish to believe or push forward."

"Mr. Fiddler, could you remind me of the preamble to the 13th Amendment, as well as Section 1?"

The native looked to the spectators and the jury before facing forward. "The preamble to the 13th Amendment denotes individuals from a species separate to humans, known as 'Ghouls'. It details how ghouls are different from humans, from their ability to change their eye colors, their unique constitutions, their predatory organs, and their inability to consume any foods other than the meat of humans," Fiddler took a deep breath before continuing. "The preamble of the 13th Amendment states that all members of the species called 'Ghouls' are unable to feel emotions, form morals, and cannot form complex behaviors on their own, instead needing to emulate human behavior and culture. Section 1 of the 13th Amendment states that ghouls are _not_ afforded the same rights as humans, and numerous changes throughout the years assure that ghouls are not afforded the same rights as _any_ animal, as is natural for such an abhorrent species."

The judge turned back to Jameson with a smug grin. "I can't fathom how you can maintain that you're the father of these so called 'half-breeds' when ghouls don't have the ability to show genuine affection or emotions."

Arthur closed his eyes and tilted his head towards Fiddler. "Johnn-Mr. Fiddler," the giant quickly corrected himself. "You went to college, right?"

"That I did," Fiddler squired in place as Arthur opened his eyes.

"What degrees did you get?"

"I have a bachelor's degree in Advanced Biology, and a master's degree in engineering, as well as several other fields. I have a degree in Ghoul Studies and related degrees, but those are only offered by investigator academies...why do you ask?"

"Do you have any degrees in Psychology? Anthropology, maybe?"

"Objection!" the lawyer cried out. "That line of questioning is completely irrelevant to the trial. Mr. Jameson should be held in contempt."

The judge considered the woman's words for several seconds before looking back to Arthur. Despite the disgust visible in his features, the judge simply sighed and turned back to the giant.

"Overruled...Mr. Fiddler?"

"Oh, right! Of course…" the native looked back to Arthur nervously. "Uh, no, I'm afraid I don't have a degree in any field of Psychology or Anthropology. What's your point though?"

"I'm wondering how somebody who hasn't studied either of those fields can say that about an entire species and claim it as irrefutable fact," the giant looked back to the judge with a triumphant grin. "I'm fine being sentenced as a ghoul would...as long as you can bring me a study made by multiple well known and respected Psychologists and Anthropologists, all of whom are unbiased, that agrees with the notion that ghouls are mindless animals who can't form their own emotions, morals, behaviors, or cultures," Arthur gave the judge a sly grin. "Unless you can do that, I'm going to have to ask that you try me as a human instead of a ghoul, and that I be given an attorney to help my case."

The judge chewed the inside of his mouth before standing up. "Sentencing will be done next week. If the jury cannot come up with a proper sentence, you _might_ just get tried as a human instead," the judge quickly slammed his gavel down. "Dismissed!"

Arthur felt several men pulling back to his feet, the impatience of the man directly beside him evident in how he frequently thrusted the cattle prod towards him. The giant looked back to Fiddler solemnly, then sent a sneer towards the woman. As he was dragged out of the courtroom, he noticed his 'family' still staring at him from the gallery. A pang of anguish seeped through him when he noticed his father glaring at him, how his mother refused to even look at him, and how his siblings stared at him blankly.

'Erika...wherever you are...please don't wait for me…'

* * *

**15 years before Steel Beam Incident**

**Location: Unknown research compound, outskirts of Tokyo**

A cold, damp cell is one of the bleakest things to wake up to. The smell of molds and other fungi that grew in spots on the thick stone wall permeated the entire room. The only way to enter or leave the cell, if one was able to, was a thick metal door made of indiscernible material, with a miniature door at the bottom. Light was allowed to filter in through a single window that was set at the back right corner of the room, though large bars surrounded them. Next to the window, pressed against the wall was a cot which harbored the cell's sole occupant.

Lying on the cot was a western boy dressed in a white t-shirt and dark blue sweatpants, who was about 10 or 11 years of age, though one could assume otherwise due to his height as he was already at the 6 foot mark. His hair was a shade of silvery white, one not normally found on adolescents. Although his face was shadowed by his bangs, leaving his eyes unseen, he was indeed awake at just before dusk despite the fact that, like most nights, tonight it seemed as though he had very little to look forward to.

A loud clang sounded throughout the cell as the door opened, to which the boy jolted upright to. Entering the cell was a tall individual in a dark long-coat, his face hidden by the clipboard as he jotted down quick notes. Lowering the clipboard revealed that he wore a full face clown mask, porcelain white with a big red nose, stitches connecting from the mask's sides to a red lipped Glasgow smile. The eye holes of the mask were mismatched, the right eye uncovered to show a single red and black eye, while the left eye was replaced with a cross shape covering it.

The teen tilted his head amusingly at the boy on the cot, who had immediately taken a stance on the bed not unlike the one a frightened cat would take when it was expecting an attack. The other boy finally addressed him in a deranged voice.

"Hey baby brother, it's been almost a month since your birthday, didja enjoy your presents?" the masked boy tiptoed a few feet towards his sibling. "Probably not, they were shitty presents anyway…"

No response, the younger boy simply tensed up further.

"Of course, by presents I meant the excruciatingly painful treatments, hehehe. All the good shit, stuff that makes your pain sensors go off the rails and whatnot."

He still received no verbal response, the younger boy only tilted his head upwards slightly, angrily baring his gritted teeth.

"Remember that, how the doc and I brought out the 'special serum' for your RC cells?" the older male eye smiled at his sibling with his visible eye. "Remember the power tools? Boy, I just loved how those drills whistled as we stabbed through your bones."

The younger boy stood frozen in place, not interested in responding to his brother while the older boy attempted(terribly) to come off as a psychotic chuunibyou. He was simply waiting for his chance. The older sibling paced nonchalantly around the room as he continued to scribble away.

'Just need him to get closer...'

"Yeah, doc got a bit concerned when you had a surge, but everything is stable now, which looks promising. I'm pretty excited~."

'Just a bit closer...'

"It is kind of annoying that your…_that_, hasn't been completed, but hey, there's still room for improvement."

'Get closer...'

"Seriously though, you're like several hundred points over the common max, yet it's still not finished. Pretty disappointing, but I'm sure with just a few more tests it'll-"

'NOW!'

When the teen had finally gotten close enough, his brother struck. The other didn't fully realize he was suspended 4 feet above the floor until he looked down. Spearing him through the stomach was a thick, scaly, whitish-grey tendril, with crocodile-like scutes running down it evenly. When he tilted his head back, he followed the rest of the tendril to its origin point, just around his younger brother's tailbone.

Angling his head just a bit further, he saw his younger brother's eyes were no longer hidden behind his bangs. The left eye was normal, with a sky blue iris. The right eye held a blood red iris devoured by a midnight black sclera, the reddened veins accentuating the cold hatred his younger brother's eyes directed towards him.

The older boy simply looked back to his clipboard and jotted more notes down. "Tch, yeah figured this would come about," he muttered under his breath.

'Bastard, don't ignore me!'

"Since your RC count surged just a bit past the "common" maximum amount, I figured we'd need to put more suppressants in your system to keep this sort of thing from happening," the older boy scribbled something on his notes, before tilting his head back. "I mean, the doc was all 'no no, just keep using the normal dosage, we don't need to worry, it'll all be fine, at worst his kagune will be sluggish', che! Shows what he knows..." then the older boy's visible eye narrowed, the expression conveying the cruel smirk he wore beneath his mask. "As for this whole... homicide attempt right here, well… I thought you woulda learned by now, **_baby brother!_**"

The older sibling then released his own bikaku kagune, a larger tail similar to an Armadillo Lizard's, bone-white and covered in spines. The spined tail wrapped around the lighter colored tail, and made a quick flicking movement. With the tail spearing through his torso no longer present, the older sibling fell on his feet and quickly looked back at his handiwork. He watched as his younger sibling sailed through the air, his flight given an unceremonious finish as he collided with the cell wall, breaking off small chunks of stone.

The young half-ghoul, clearly winded, coughed and gagged trying to catch his breath. The older brother smiled wider under his mask, angling his kagune over his younger sibling. With a quick movement, the spined tail pierced the younger boy's side, eliciting a yelp of pain. The teen ditched his clipboard and slowly approached his younger sibling.

"It looks like some…_disciplinary action_ is in order!"

The boy grabbed his younger sibling's right arm by the wrist, and twisted it roughly.

"GAAAHH!"

"See baby brother, the thing is… doc and I had a meeting tonight with these dudes, really high on the metaphorical, and literal, food chain, and I was hoping to join, even brought it up last meeting."

The older sibling pulled his brother's index finger back till he heard several cracking noises, then did the same with his middle and ring finger.

"AAAAGHH! STOP!"

"SO I really, REALLY wanted to make a good impression with them. Their 'talent scout' seemed genuinely interested. That's why I got a nice suit under my coat and all."

He then moved his hand to the boy's forearm, and made an offhand flick. A sickening crunch sounded throughout the room, resulting in the younger boy's radius and ulna sticking out of the skin.

"GAAAAAAHHHHH!"

"But then SOMEBODY had to go and impale me in the stomach, ruining both my favorite coat, AND my nice suit which cost over like, ¥40,000. But hell, I really should have expected this sorta thing from you though, Right?"

The teen moved his hand to his brother's upper arm, then pulled it out of its socket. He squeezed until he heard the younger boy's humerus crack. He leaned down to his sibling's face, observing he was silently crying, then moved to his ear.

"You just can't stop being so damn selfish, can you baby brother?" he heard his younger sibling mutter something under his breath, and tilted his head. "Hmm, what was that?"

"*pant* I said…*pant*," he angled his head slowly, showing a hardened look. His single kakugan and his normal blue eye locking onto his sibling with a hateful gaze. **"FUCK YOU!"** a sentiment he soon punctuated by spitting in his older brother's face.

This only earned him another flight into the wall on the opposite side of the cell, courtesy of his brother's kagune.

"Would you chill the fuck out, at worst for you that would take like… I dunno, an hour to completely heal. Don't be such a pussy..." the teen reclaimed his clipboard, and started towards the door as he scribbled a bit more on it. "I'm gonna go see if I can salvage this suit, maybe get a new one in time," he muttered the last part mostly to himself. "The guards will come with your meal, make sure to take every last bite...otherwise I'll have to force it down your throat when I get back, kukukuku!"

The heavy sound of the metallic door slamming shut signified the older ghoul's departure. The younger boy Crawled onto his cot while holding his arm, all while attempting to set it as best as possible so it would heal properly. The boy gritted his teeth as he put his bones back in place as well as he could, giving a grunt of discomfort when he had to pop his arm back into the socket.

'He's leaving tonight?' looking up to the window, he saw dusk quickly approaching. "Tonight, it happens tonight!" he stated with conviction.

In an hour or so, the guards would come with a piece of meat(most likely human) spiked with sedatives and RC suppressants. All of it done in order to keep him both weak and more "complacent" when the next day rolled around and his insane brother and his mad scientist mentor were ready to start more tests. He wouldn't eat it this time, he had learned from the last escape attempts.

He lifted his cot off the floor, and retrieved a secret pack. Inside were the only keepsakes he had left of _her_. Included were two books, _The Trial, The Hobbit,_ and finally a mask. The mask looked like a mix between a ghostly face and masks used in Noh theaters, porcelain pale and lacking a nose, the mouth slightly agape in a blank expression, the eyes of the mask sporting somewhat furrowed brows. Looking down at the mask and books, bile welled up in his throat and he could feel the sting in his eyes as he remembered an event from years before.

Wiping tears from his eyes and swallowing as he forced the memory down, he thought about his escape plan. The meat he could feign eating, that would _probably_ be the easy part. It was the metal door, which was made to be nearly impossible to be broken down by ghouls, that would be the tricky part. The last escape attempts involved slipping out the door with trickery and subversion, he had never _broken_ it down.

'I guess I'll have to use_ that_,' he felt bitter at the thought of it. Looking up at the window, he saw the sun was practically down, the last bit of light glowing from the horizon. He turned back to the floor and dragged his hand through his hair, his face conveying his deep thought. 'Guess I'll figure it out when it comes up...'

Just an hour after the sun fully set, the smaller mini door opened. A piece of human meat was slid into the cell on a metal tray. The boy looked over and sniffed at the air slightly, the scent of Diprenorphine and some other unknown substances flowing into his nose.

'Just like always.'

He picked it up, and squeezed a small amount of the blood inside it onto the floor. Cocking his left arm back, he flung the tainted piece of meat out of the window, honing his senses just in time to hear a soft, far away "splat". He turned back to the blood stained floor, fighting a grimace at the pain in his right arm.

"Time to get started."

* * *

Hours later in another part of the facility, four clown masked ghouls, three men and one woman, were sat down around a table in a sort of rec room. All of them hold playing cards in hand, with the main deck in the center. One player, a jester mask wearing ghoul, hid most of his face behind his cards and focused intently, analyzing his opponents as best as possible.

'So close, just need to get four of a kind, they'll never see it coming.'

One of his fellow players, a man wearing a mime-like mask, looked up and turned to his associates. "Got any fours?"

'Wait what?!'

A chorus of "go fish" rang out from the other two players.

"Hold it! Guys what the hell?!"

Every other clown turned to him.

"I thought we were playing poker."

The other clowns just stared at him in pure bafflement. One member of the group, a short woman wearing a tramp mask, spoke up."What the hell do you mean 'I thought we were playing poker'? Was your dumbass trying to roll out a royal flush this entire time?"

"Actually I was gonna get four of a kind pretty soon, I was really excited, hehe."

The woman just tilted her head, then grew devilish smirk beneath her mask. "Got any sevens?"

"GOD DAMMIT!"

A chorus of laughter rang out at his expense as he relinquished the three cards.

"Serves your dumbass right for not paying attention!"

A tick mark appeared on his forehead and he mumbled angrily.

He was about to ask 'got any twos?' but then a thought struck him. "Hey, how long ago did the doc and his apprentice walk out to their big meeting?"

One of his male coworkers, who wore a harlequin mask, looked up at him to answer. "About three or four and a half hours ago, why?"

"How long ago did we feed the kid?"

The harlequin masked ghoul scratched his head for a second in deep thought. "Uh, about an hour and forty-five minutes ago, why?"

"Did anybody check if he ate it yet?"

The other three ghouls looked at him quizzically, and the jester masked ghoul sighed.

"Look, the doc usually likes him to be out of it so he can't fight back when they're poking at him, and sometimes when we give him meat he ignores it entirely," the jester ghoul rubbed his forehead in frustration. "If we don't check on him, we might end up having to force feed it to him in the morning, and I really would like to stress that despite being only…huh...11, he's about six feet tall, with a monster sized bikaku, and he goes absolutely berserk when you try to hold him down."

Every other ghoul at the table grimaced under their masks.

The mime masked ghoul stood up and waved to grab everyone else's attention. "I'll go check on the brat, I gotta go take a leak anyway hehe."

Two of the other clowns blanched, while the jester ghoul just sighed. "Thank you for sharing that piece of information with us, it was definitely necessary!"

The mime ghoul simply uttered a "shaddup!" as he walked out.

* * *

'Jeez, don't know what that idiot was on about, the kid was out on the floor like a light.'

The mime ghoul had checked on the boy's cell to see him on the floor asleep, and judged by the small amount of blood on the floor that he had indeed eaten the laced meat given to him. After confirming that yes, they boy was completely out cold, he left to relieve himself.

Now he was walking back down the hall to the rec room, absentmindedly hoping his coworkers didn't mess with his hand. Rounding the corner, he passed by the destroyed cell door and made his way to-

'Wait, hang on WHAT?!'

He immediately backtracked to the boy's cell, finding that the door had been destroyed, the quinque steel torn asunder as if a wild best had charged through.

"W-what the hell is thi-*SQUELCH* GAAAH!"

He didn't even get a full sentence out before his chest was speared through by an armored, charcoal-black crocodile-like tail. The mime ghoul twitched erratically and his eyes began to roll up into his head.

"Guuh, how did you-"

"s**O**...**H**u**N**g**R**y!"

The mime ghoul looked back, just barely seeing a horned, spike covered silhouette behind him, a single unfocused red eye peering at him from the dark

"You brought out your kakuja? How are you-*Cough* uggh..."

While the ghoul coughed up blood, the kakuja behind him moved closer, a sickening ear-splitting grin stretching across half-ghoul's face.

"h**U**n**G**r**Y**, e**A**t, h**A**v**E** t**O**… **EAT!"**

With a mad snarl, the young ghoul launched himself mouth first at the neck of ghoul he had speared on his kakuja tail, ripping apart the ghoul's carotid artery, tearing through his trachea, and shredding the vocal cords, leaving the ghoul dying and unable to scream. The boy, lost in his uncontrolled kakuja state, removed the dead ghoul from his tail and moved his kill to the floor. Then, with several animalistic growls, began to further rip apart the body in his maddened state of hunger.

* * *

"So… it's been twenty minutes since the guy left, anybody else creeped out or what?"

The other ghouls gave the tramp masked ghoul a passing glance, not really caring.

The harlequin masked ghoul spoke first. "How bout, 'or what'. Seriously, dude probably had to take more than just 'a leak' as he put it, he's fine. The worst thing that could happen was if his dick got stuck in a urinal," he stated, snickering at his own joke.

The tramp masked woman responded with an angry growl. "This is serious, the dude could have been taken out by a trap or some weird ass machine thingy the doc has around the lab."

The jester masked ghoul let out an exasperated sigh then stood up. "Oh god, I'll go look if you're really getting that fucking paranoid," he said, muttering a "jeez" under his breath as he moved to the hallway to find their missing coworker.

The quickest route to the restroom went just past their charge's cell, so it wasn't too far fetched to be paranoid about it. Due to design flaws, the boy's cell did not have its own built in toilet, so the mad scientist's apprentice was always the one to escort him. The one time the boy was escorted by somebody else, it ended in chaos and disaster.

'Didn't help that the kid was lying about needing to go to the bathroom,' the jester ghoul thought.

As he rounded the corner, his thoughts on one of the boy's many escape attempts were put to a complete halt as he took in the sight before him. He stopped to stare in abject horror at what was before him, taking note of three things.

1\. The huge quinque steel door to the boy's cell had been completely decimated

2\. His mime masked coworker was on the floor, throat ripped out and body mostly eaten

and 3...There was some…Monstrous thing standing over his friends prone body, further mutilating it with it's bare teeth.

As he took all this in, he glanced up at the monster eating his friend's corpse. In between its chewing, he could hear it utter such things as "so hungry", or "Mother, I'm so sorry". It was after looking at it for a few more moments that he realized just what the thing was.

The boy's kakuja, while incomplete, looked like some demonic reptilian monster. Formed around his head and tapering off just just around the boy's nose, was a mask with a single glowing eye hole in the center. Teeth-like growths sat just above the preteen's mouth, and cat-like ears that pressed against the side of the boy's head. Just behind the scalp of the mask was a pair of straight backwards facing, two pronged antler-like horns.

Beginning at the back of the mask head were sharp, crocodile-like scutes evenly placed down his neck and back, similar to the monstrous spikes of a kaiju from old movies. The boy's tail had grown thicker and more armored, and the scutes on it had grown and sharpened. Armor coiled lightly around his limbs and chest, and as he ate it seemed to grow ever so slightly. The color of his kagune had changed from greyish-white to charcoal-black, not unlike the ground around an active volcano.

The boy suddenly stopped eating, and stiffly turned his head to the new arrival. The jester masked ghoul went stiff as a board and paled under his mask. Hoping to escape as quickly and safely as possible, he backed away slowly in hopes he could remove himself from sight. When heard the monstrous chewing start up again, he ran as fast as he could back to the rec room.

By the time he had gotten back he was visibly out of breath. His surviving coworkers barely noticed his reentry, having gone back to mindlessly viewing their cards.

His harlequin masked associate looked in his direction. "So, you free the guy's foot from the shitter or what?"

The jester ghoul took in a deep breath, and steeled himself for his statement. "...The kid used his kakuja to break out of his cell and is eating our friend."

"Cool man, real cool."

.

.

.

.

"HANG ON WHAAAAT?!"

Both of his coworkers had jumped up to their feet after the realization hit them. The jester ghoul led his two coworkers out to the halls, and backtracked to the kid's cell. Sure enough, he was still there, just finishing up his meal. The three ghouls gaped at the half-breed in terror, unsure of what to do. The jester ghoul moved forward slightly, intent on trying to come up with a strategy.

"Alright, we need to come up with a plan of attack-"

He was cut off as the tramp masked ghoul ran past him, spiny ukaku erupting from her shoulder blades.

"I've got your plan of attack RIGHT HERE!" she yelled.

She got just within two meters of the boy before his massive tail swung in her direction, the sharpened end meeting her neck.

The other two ghouls could only stare wide eyed as her head rolled past them. The harlequin brought out his own beetle-like ukaku... and promptly turned to run.

"Screw this man!"

The jester ghoul brought out his segmented rinkaku out to prevent the harlequin's escape. "Listen to me! If we play this smart, we can take him. As long as we don't get too close we can- HOLY FUCK!"

He barely got his full plan out edgewise before the vicious kakuja threw himself on all fours, bounding forward and pouncing at them hands first like a giant predatory cat. When the boy's hands found grip on their throats, his deranged mind began to concentrate on his RC cells present in them. The two ghouls in his grasp felt the sensation of burning around their throats, unable to scream as they were overwhelmed with searing agony. By the time the boy had removed his hands from their necks, the skin around them had been charred like pieces of firewood.

Placing his fingers to his teeth, the boy let out a mad giggle at having three new meals.

"**E**he**E**hehe**E**, s**O** h**U**n**G**r**Y**, **H**a**V**e to **E**a**T**…" then he gripped his head in his hands, a lone tear trailing down his cheek from within his kakuja mask. "Mom...Mom I'm so sorry..."

* * *

By the time the boy had woken up, he was covered in blood, and surrounded by bits of meat and bone he didn't remember being near. As he noted the indescribably awful taste in his mouth, he blanched as he put together as best as possible what had really happened. His mouth turned up into a smile, as a feeling of giddiness welled up inside him at the realization of what happened.

'I actually got out,' he thought.

Looking around, he found an arm, most likely leftovers from his meal, with a watch on it. Removing it from what was left of its former owner, he found that it was in working condition, and affixed it to his own wrist. Checking it, he found not too much time had passed after dusk.

'I still have time to get going!' he realized.

He stood up and, after quickly retrieving his pack from the cell, ran around the nearest corner to get a good feel on the exit. When the smell of fresh, _non-sterile_ air filled his nose, he moved as close to it as possible. Coming upon an unlocked steel door, he emerged from oppressive, stone-walled hallways, finding himself in an extravagant lobby of sorts, with a fancy wooden exit just within reach.

"Yes! Finally, time to get away from this hellhole!" he shouted out, jumping towards the door with his leg stretched forward, kicking it completely in half.

When he looked around, he found himself staring into a massive expanse of woodlands. Taking in a breath of fresh pine scented air, he smiled, and shed a tear as he looked upon the outside world for the first time in over six years.

Looking back at his former prison, her sneered angrily. Outwardly, it looked like a fancy mansion that would be bought, then completely ignored by its owner, aside from bragging rights and one-time only dinner parties. He wouldn't really be surprised if that were the case.

"I'll get as far away from this hell as possible...I promise, they'll never get me back!" he growled out, before smiling to himself and whispering. "I hope those bastards die, I'd burn this whole damn place down if I could..."

With that, he ran straight into the woods, not looking back once.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There we go, finished product. Please leave your constructive criticism and thoughts in the comments, I really am interested in having viewer feedback.  
*In this AU, the Constitution has 1 extra Amendment involving how ghouls are handled by the US, which is treated in universe as the 13th Amendment. The AUs version of our 13th Amendment is the 14th here, and so on with all the others.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Second rewrite, this time to make things somewhat smoother and more 'realistic', in a sense. For instance, OC knowing too much Japanese in the first version. Now, he'll need to actually learn it.

* * *

"So, how did the meeting go?"

“They’re planning to increase the funding...and they’re going to give me some new staff. No more asking Roma and Porpora for bodyguards,” the mad scientist let out a dreamy sigh. “And of course, some more scientists who are actually competent.”

“Oh, that’s just hurtful.”

“I wasn’t referring to you, Eric. I meant some of the others…” the doctor shook his head and turned back to his apprentice with a teasing grin. “How about you? Kaiko gave you a tour of their premises, correct?”

His apprentice giggled happily. “Only the less restricted parts...but yeah, they were really cool. The best part is that they said they might have a spot open,” the teen’s mouth formed into a deranged smirk. “Finally, I’ll get some  _ action  _ in my life. Not gonna lie, tortu-I mean, making sure the subjects get their proper medical attention is great and all, but I just feel like my energy could be put to better use.”

The doctor gave the boy a kind smirk. “I’m glad you’re advocating for yourself in such a way, Eric. I’ve known that you were a very bright boy from the beginning, and you’ve certainly impressed me…” the mad scientist actually sniffled at this. “I feel like I’m actually about to choke up. It’s sad to lose you, but I’m glad that you’ve found a career path you can be happy with.”

“Doc, don’t say that. You’ll still see me, after all I need to check on Subjects 2 and 3 all the time, make sure their behaved and-” the teen froze as something caught his eye. "Hey doc, when we left the house, did we leave the front door broken in half? Because it looks broken in half."

The mad scientist followed his apprentice’s gaze to find that yes, the door was in fact broken apart. The two quickly moved to the entrance of the mansion to check, the doctor kneeling down to inspect the wood. While he certainly wasn’t an  _ expert  _ on destroyed chunks of wood, he could tell that it most likely hadn’t been broken for more than a day.

The scientist looked to see his apprentice run for the basement tunnels, intent on checking the cells. The doctor followed with worry filling his mind about his current experiment, his prototype of prototypes.

When the two arrived at the cell, they were greeted by a gruesome sight. Stray body parts strewn about, bits of chewed bone and torn remnants of clothes. Shredded masks had been flung around the entire hallway, and the stone walls were marred with deep gouges.

'At least I know that I’ll be getting better guards,' the doctor thought as he moved to inspect the cell.

The cell door had been decimated, ripped to shreds like a piece of paper. A small amount of blood stained the cell floor, most likely the human meat he had ordered to be laced with suppressants and fed to the boy. The young half-ghoul had probably used it as part of his ruse in order to escape.

'I'm truly surprised he came up with all this, his brother and I were under the assumption he was slow witted,' he thought in amusement.

His apprentice was far from amused like he was.

"SHIT! SHIT! SHIT! FUCK! FUCK! SHIT! NONONONONONONONONO!"

The teen immediately began the process of what many would call ‘Losing his shit’. The teen immediately ran to the security base upstairs, hoping to find something on the footage from one of the cameras placed around the estate. The doctor decided to follow him, secretly wondering if the younger half-ghoul's escape would be a good thing.

'It'd be nice to see how the young boy matures in the outside world' he smirked as he thought it over.

There were dozens of ever changing possibilities and different variables the young half-ghoul would encounter. While there was a higher chance he would be drawn to other ghouls more easily, he couldn’t discount the thought that the boy might meet normal humans, or even CCG investigators.

By the time the doctor had gotten to the security room, his apprentice was already halfway through the tapes. Images of the clown masked guards playing a card game flashed on the screen briefly, before the camera changed to the footage of events around the cell from last night. The doctor smirked at what he saw, it told him he was getting the results he needed.

The young boy had unleashed reptilian kakuja and dispatched the guards easily. Looking closer at the footage, he noticed that the incomplete armor around the boy's limbs and chest seemed to grow larger and cover more as he ate. It was highly possible that the boy was reaching towards the set limit of RC that most normal ghouls held.

"How the hell did Subject 3 take his kakuja?!"

"That's quite a cold way to refer to your younger brother, isn't it?"

Eric's single red and black eye locked onto him with a deadpan stare. "How the hell did  _ Subject 3  _ take his kakuja?"

The doctor let out a short sigh. "There are two answers I can give you depending on what version of the question you're asking. If you're asking  _ how _ he was still able to take his kakuja, well, the footage clearly shows him feigning eating his ‘dinner’," the doctor absentmindedly noted how the young boy had improved on his escape plans, before continuing for his apprentice's benefit. "If you're wondering how he knew HOW to bring out his kakuja, well...he most likely figured it out from the last few times he did it by accident, and reverse engineered it in a sense. Of course, that’s more than enough proof that despite his low intelligence, his problem solving skills and ingenuity are on par with your own."

“Gaah! You can’t just compare  _ him _ to me like that!!!” his apprentice growled in frustration, walking over to a map of the nearby city. The map had marks on it for special points of interest, the teen focused intently on several. "Would there be a chance to get him back?"

The doctor rubbed his chin in thought. "If he hasn't gotten far, or found a place to hide. The big problem is that there was a rainstorm early in the morning," the scientist set the boy with a flat glance. “So his scent has probably wholly washed away.”

"Che! He hasn’t gotten that far, regardless of scent. He’s only a little kid-"

"He's around six feet tall," the doctor chided.

The teen groaned in annoyance. "Developing gigantism aside, he's 11 years old, and he’s never been given a chance to build up a proper amount of muscle. He couldn’t have-ah shit!" a thought struck Eric as his eyes trailed the map, over a certain point marked in the city proper. "Doc, are there any entrances to the 24th close by?"

The doctor looked at the map in thought, his eyes trailed over every marked entrance to the unofficial ward that he knew of. One near their location caught his attention, and he moved his finger to point to it. It was the entrance to a small artificial cave deep within the surrounding forest.

"This entrance, right here. It's a couple of miles away, so it'd be a bit out of the way for him to get to, but it’s a possibility.." the scientist stopped short as a thought occurred to him. "How strong are his senses?"

"Eh, well I'd assume they're as good as mine are. I can tune things out and focus on specific sounds, and don't even get me started on my sense of smell. ALL my senses are superior to those of  _ pure-blooded _ ghouls." The teen half-ghoul smirked under his mask as he boasted over his superior abilities.

The doctor blanched at the revelation. "That's what I was afraid of. His senses are most likely comparable to yours, and despite the fact that neither of you have knowledge on how to navigate the 24th ward, that'll be his 'saving grace' so to speak. If he's found his way there, you wouldn't be able to find him whatsoever," the scientist ran his hand through his hair, letting out an exhausted sigh. "There's also the fact that he  _ will _ go to the 24th ward if given the chance. Since I'm human, he will quickly make the association that other humans are dangerous to his existence. The most recent experience he's had with pure-blooded ghouls, conscious of it or otherwise, is as a food source." 

“Aww come on, he couldn’t handle himself there. For starters, he barely knows the Japanese language, and what he does know wont help him. What are the chances he finds somebody in that place that knows english?”

“Not very high...but there’s still  _ a  _ chance he finds someone who can help him,” the doctor set the teen with a stern glare. "There is no possible scenario I can think of off the top of my head that wouldn't end up with him finding himself within the 24th ward. So, unless you're willing to leave the nice sterile lab, and trudge through mucky sewers, dusty abandoned subways, and all sorts of different varieties of tunnels that are sprawled beneath an entire prefecture, then it'll be months, even years before we're able to retrieve  _ the subject _ ."

The teen hybrid could only find one word to perfectly articulate the jumbled mess of thoughts running through his mind

"Well...shit..."

**1½ months later**

**"24th ward" of Tokyo**

'Maybe running straight into a cave just because it smelled ok was a bad idea...'

It hadn’t been easy traversing the woods. He had stumbled more than a few times, broken a few limbs that had taken less than a few minutes to heal, and lost track of direction more than once. All the while, strange sounds filled his ear, from loud ‘whoops’ and chittering in the darkness. Every second was agonizing, to him it was as though he was being watched or followed every moment.

At one point, he had thought he smelled nearby humans. There were sounds of a city not too far in the distance, and he could smell charred wood from nearby campgrounds. While he perhaps didn’t hate humans, his already paranoid state had steered him far away from any contact with them, lest he be brought back to the hell he had just escaped.

Everything only got worse once it began to rain. By the time the light had started to peek through the clouds, the preteen was cold, wet, and unable to even look at his own shadow without jumping in terror. 

When the early light of morning came, he had gotten far enough that the all too familiar scent of the ‘hellhole’ was far out of his range. Before the sun had even risen, he had already found himself in front of a small cave, the entrance held up by wooden beams.

From within, the tall hybrid scented the pungent stench of blood, meat, and death. But more importantly, there was the fragrant musk that could only belong to one or many full-blooded ghouls. 

This could only have meant two things. The cave was  _ much  _ deeper than it looked, and a group of ghouls had taken up residence inside, or it was used as a frequent hiding spot or meeting place for different ghouls, and it had simply become inundated with their scent. 

That had been a month and a half ago, and it was looking to be one of the biggest mistakes in his life. Once he had entered the cave, he had found himself in a massive expanse of tunnels that seemed to have no end. There were old abandoned sewers, subways, even ancient mine shafts that still stood strong. 

By the third week, he was exhausted and unbearably hungry. His legs had nearly given out, his body felt like it could collapse any second, and he had become so emaciated that his bones showed through his skin. It was as though his body was being put through a brand new kind of torture.

The silver-haired boy had noticed the area around him change days prior. Instead of the normal tunnels filled with grime, muck, and soot, the ground soon shifted beneath his feet and the air grew hotter than a summer breeze. Tangled vines, fungal growths, and plants of all sorts covered the area around him. Small trees and even large mushrooms grew from the walls around him, and the half-breed noticed the occasional animal skittering past him or dancing away from the edge of his vision.

Finally, he stopped, unable to handle his own weight while standing. The boy sat beneath one of the large mushrooms and leaned his head back against the stony wall, clutching his distended stomach as it growled desperately. The preteen brought his hand to his right eye as a burning sensation spread through it, the result of his kakugan* flaring up as his unfed RC cells did what they could to hold him together. 

'I don't know how much more of this I can take,' he thought, then he looked at his arm contemplatively. 'Maybe... taking a small bite will help?' the boy blanched at the thought of going that far before letting out a dry chuckle. "I probably wouldn't even taste that good...heh..."

He sat there for several moments, wallowing in his own painful hunger, until his ears picked up a noise somewhere close by within the tunnels. Standing up slowly and honing his hearing as best as possible in his current state, he heard a "clang" noise, like a stone or metal object striking something. The boy stood shakily for several seconds, contemplating his next move, then he quickly fixed the pack loosely hung on his shoulder before slowly moving towards where he figured the source of the noise was.

Only a few minutes later did he find himself inside of a massive underground chamber, the rotted support beams from its days as a mineshaft still barely holding much of it up. The hybrid stuck to the shadows of the entrance as he watched the scene within the room play out. Two ghouls, both wearing robes, were locked in a deadly clash with their kagune. 

The first ghoul was rather nondescript, he was of average height and sported dark brown hair. Emerging from below his shoulder blade was a koukaku kagune, an ugly appendage that looked like a long black tendril covered in barbs. The ghoul used it like an extra limb, repeatedly jabbing at his opponent with it.

The second ghoul was more distinct, if not odd to him. It was a girl, maybe a few years older than he was, with neck length purple hair that framed a pair of kakugan covered by wide-framed glasses. 

Unlike her opponent, she hadn't released her kagune to fight, instead relying solely on hand-to-hand combat. She would dodge every stab and weave through her opponent’s jabs effortlessly, getting quick and precise blows whenever there was an opening available. Despite the fact that the opposing ghoul was able to heal from his wounds and stay in the fight, his weapon was clearly weighing him down.

Their fight seemed to go on for several more minutes until the koukaku-type overshot one of his attacks, inadvertently embedding his weapon into the ground. While he tried to free his predatory organ, the bespectacled girl quickly slammed into him and swept his legs from beneath him. While his claw did become unstuck, he was airborne for a good few seconds, and a kick from the other ghoul sent him tumbling across the ground, leaving dust in his wake.

The girl adjusted her glasses slightly and moved towards the downed ghoul, putting on the air of caution. "You know, I gave you  _ a lot  _ of chances to clean up your act. I don’t understand why you keep causing problems for people here..." she was now within a meter of the downed ghoul, leveling a harsh glare at his prone form. "I'll give you this one last chance. Leave, or I won’t be held responsible for what happens to you afterward. Which will it be?"

The ghoul let out a dark chuckle, and angled his head towards the girl, a smug grin decorating his face. The girl barely dodged the other ghoul's black tendril as it stabbed towards her left side. A wet sensation spread through her side, causing the ghoulette to jump back in shock. She checked the torn fabric of her robe, flinching when she saw the red liquid covering the tips of her fingers.

When she looked back to her opponent, she found nothing. Her instincts, combined with her adrenaline, allowed her to dodge a jab from behind. As she attempted to make a counter attack towards the ghoul, she felt her legs being kicked out from beneath her. The massive spined tendril wrapped around her leg and pulled her into the air. A few seconds later, several sickening cracks erupted into the air as she impacted into the ground.

The bespectacled girl stood up shakily, raggedly breathing through her teeth. Before she could even lift her legs, her opponent had already rushed to her position. A foot slammed down onto her solar plexus  _ hard _ , knocking her straight back to the ground.

"Stupid bitch!" he growled out, "You...you and your little group of brats think you own this fucking section of the tunnels eh? Well I'm cutting that short right here and now!" He slammed his foot down hard on the girl's chest, eliciting a cough of pain from her as the air fled from her lungs. "Hehe, you always act so damn tough, you never bring your kagune out for a fight, and you somehow manage to win easily," his grin twisted into a sickening smirk. "Well, guess I'm the lucky one… Now you finally get yours!" he growled, kicking her into the nearby wall of the chamber. 

The ghoulette leveled a glare at the man as she renewed her attempt to get up. The deranged ghoul simply sent her a mad grin.

"I really wish I didn't have to kill such a pretty face, but hey that's just how it works down here,” he moved slowly towards her, red eyes narrowing madly. "Would have been nice to get some  _ fun _ in, for just a bit. You're pretty easy on the eyes, wouldn't have been bad if I got to-GAAAHHH!"

The girl stared in shock as a whitish-grey crocodilian tail skewered the ghoul through his chest, piercing through his koukaku tendril. With his kakuhou damaged, the ghoul's kagune dissipated. The tail pulled the ghoul into the air, and moved him towards the center of the underground chamber.

Once he had gotten a good grip on the situation, the hybrid had immediately released his kagune. The limb, sluggish due to his own starvation, snaked towards his target as quietly as possible. While he had to adjust it every now and then to keep it hidden, his work had finally paid off. 

Now he stood behind the ghoul impaled on his kagune, panting as the man in question growled in pain and anger.

"Gah! Who the fuck just-"

_ "Don't take this personally," _ the half-ghoul said from behind him.

The ghoul gritted his teeth as his attacker grabbed his left shoulder

_ "I haven't eaten in almost two months..." _

“The fuck are you going on about?! Speak Japanese you little-”

The deranged ghoul was cut off when pain erupted from his arm. The half-ghoul had darted his open mouth straight for the ghoul’s shoulder, tearing off a sizable amount of meat and bone. In that moment, the mad koukaku type immediately realized that  _ he  _ was now the prey. 

"NONONONONO, LET ME GO LET ME GO! AAAAHAHAAAA, DON'T EAT ME, DON'T! PLEASE GOD NO! AAAGHH-"

The man’s screams were silenced once the hybrid darted towards his throat. In one swift bite, his throat was sheared in half, his jugular was torn apart, and the flesh around his neck was ripped into paste. The boy ignored the copious amount of blood staining his face as he tore into as much flesh as he could to quell his unbearable hunger. 

Once the indescribable feeling in the pit of his stomach began to dissipate, the hybrid pulled away from the corpse shakily. The boy closed his eyes as a shudder spread through him, before he opened his eyes to look back at his meal. From the corner of his vision, he noticed the plum-haired girl from before was now only an inch from his face.

"Gaaah!"

The boy jumped back a good few feet, like a startled cat, his tail curled menacingly towards the ghoul who had previously been within his personal space. The girl's kakugan deactivated, revealing purple eyes that looked at the boy curiously, punctuated by the tilting of her head. The boy gasped when he realized that she was staring at his single red and black eye, and moved a hand up to cover it.

"Ah! I'm sorry, I didn't mean to startle you!" she called out, waving her hands in front of herself to appear less dangerous. "Umm…" she bowed before continuing, "Arigatō…you saved me and I'm very grateful for that!"

The boy tilted his head, trying to figure out the correct way to respond. "Uhhh…" his brow furrowed as he checked his memory to figure out the correct word to respond with. "Do… Dota? Ah!" he directed a nervous smile towards the girl as a metaphorical lightbulb went off in his head. "Dōitashimashite?" 

“...Japanese isn't your first language, isn’t it?" the plum-haired girl asked slowly. 

The boy's face fell a bit and he rubbed the back of his head. "I know enough to get by..."

The ghoulette blinked owlishly at him. "How old are you?"

_ "...Eh?" _

“I asked you how old you are,” the girl sweatdropped in realization. “Right, you can’t understand me well...I was asking because you’re pretty tall, and all westerners can be pretty tall, but you look really scrawny...like, way too scrawny to be anywhere near 14.” 

The boy understood just enough to know what the girl had called him.  _ “Scrawny? That’s…hurtful…” _

"Ehehe, sorry! I was just making an observation, didn't mean anything by it," the girl inched herself closer, until she was only a few feet away from him. "So, really… how old are you?"

The half-ghoul tilted his head as he processed her words. "...I'm only 11," he said, glancing shyly at the ground. 

The girl smiled kindly at him and beckoned him forward. "Here, come with me… and if you're still hungry then… uh..." she looked down at the dead ghoul and cringed slightly. "...You can bring that with you"

The young hybrid looked to his previous kill, then looked to the girl who was patiently waiting further away at the entrance to another portion of the tunnels. After mulling it over, he coiled his kagune around the dead ghoul, and lifted it into the air. After being sure he had a good grip on his meal, he ran to catch up to the girl, and the two soon began to move further into the dark recesses of Tokyo's unofficial ward.

The girl led him through the forested section of tunnels for a few hours, looking back every now and then to make sure he wasn’t lagging behind too much, or that she had lost him. A concerned expression wormed its way across her features when she noticed how he would jump at small shadows and certain sounds. Eventually, they stopped at a large metal door set into the stony wall. 

The girl sweatdropped when she noticed the boy tilting his head curiously at the amount of locks she had installed. “I know, it looks like I overdid it. Hang on just a second…” the plum-haired girl pulled a small metal key from within her sleeve and began unlocking them one by one. “Hold on, this’ll probably take a while. I only did this because of...well...ah,” the ghoulette eventually unlocked the last bolt, and opened the door with a happy exclamation. “There we go...uh,” the girl motioned inside. “Mi casa, su casa...uhh, t-that is the saying, right?” 

The half-ghoul blinked in confusion, before shaking his head and following her inside. Past the door was a somewhat homely room with walls, floors, and ceiling covered in stony slate. At the right side of the room was a table with a few wooden chairs, behind it at the far right a handmade bookshelf with a small stock. The left side of the room was covered in beach blankets, a storage chest just next to the door while a sleeping bag sat somewhat adjacent to the table and chairs. At the back left corner was a shelf filled to the brim with cans, and next to it a rack stocked with meat in the process of being cured.

The girl closed the door behind them and gently smiled at him before pointing to his bag. "You can put your bag down over there," she said, pointing to the area just next to the box.

The boy looked at her, then to the spot, clearly unsure as to what to do. 

She giggled lightly at his hesitation. "Relax, I won't go through your bag or steal your stuff."

The boy gently set his pack down, and watched as she went through the storage container looking for something. He then maneuvered his kagune in front of him.

"Umm… where do I put this?" he asked, motioning to the corpse he held with his tail.

"Oh, hang on,” the girl furrowed her brows in concentration, willing a pair of blood-red violet tentacles from her lower back. 

The half-ghoul gaped in shock as the tentacles quickly formed into small hands which stretched towards the boy’s tail. The hands turned and held their palms out, as if waiting for something. The half-ghoul blinked before nervously relinquishing his earlier kill to the girl. The ghoulette smiled before hauling the corpse over and pulling it apart. 

“See, most people down here don’t ever think about saving food or anything like that. I think that’s what the major problem is,” the bespectacled girl scrutinized the arms she had pulled off the corpse. “You definitely still need to eat, methinks. These should do,” the girl gently placed the arms on the table before looking at the boy in confusion. “Well? Go ahead and sit down, you probably haven’t had a chance to rest for...well, who knows.”

The half-ghoul chewed the inside of his cheek before quickly taking a seat and slowly finishing off the meat presented to him. He watched as the plum-haired girl moved back to the nearby chest to continue rummaging, grimacing as she threw out several objects from within while searching.

“No, that’s not it...hmm, I think-no, that’s just a bean bag...why do I even keep bean bags? I never-Aha!” the bespectacled girl pulled a large sleeping bag from the box and presented it to the boy. "Here, this'll be yours.”

The half-ghoul’s mouth moved, but no words came out. The girl moved back to the back of the room just as her kagune finished shearing the boy’s kill. She felt around the tall shelf nearby, pulling a can off and popping it open, before pouring some of its contents onto the pieces of meat she had just processed. The boy wasn’t sure what the powder inside was, but the smell was indescribable.

“Alright, there we go…” the girl flinched, before turning back to the boy with a sheepish grin. “Ah, I’m so sorry, I forgot! So…” the ghoulette slowly moved towards the table and took a seat in front of the boy. “My name is Meiko, it’s nice to meet you.” 

The half-ghoul eyed her unsurely for several seconds, causing the girl to let out a sigh. “That’s usually where you introduce yourself, you know?” 

“Ah, sorry…” the silver-haired boy furrowed his brows in thought. “My name is...Riley...thank you for...all this,” the preteen fumbled over the words before facing the girl with a baffled expression. "...Why?"

The girl looked at him, confused at his question. "Why what?"

“I didn’t want to offend you, and I’m very...grateful,” the half-breed gritted his teeth as he struggled to find the right words. “Why are you doing this? I’m...wrong, I’m a thing, a mutant. You could have run away from me, but…” the boy balled his hands up to the point that blood began to seep out from between his knuckles.  _ “Why are you doing it? You...brought me here, showed me more kindness than anybody has in over six years,”  _ the preteen choked up, tears welling from his eyes.  _ “Why?! What do you get from this? What’s the point?!” _

The plum-haired girl looked at him sympathetically, ignoring his semi-outburst and midway change of language. The ghoulette shook her head before giving the boy a kind smile, and answering with perfect english, much to his surprise.

_ “Because...I kinda have this thing where I can’t resist helping people in need,”  _ the bespectacled girl cupped a hand to her chin.  _ "I can tell you really are just a little kid, and that you've probably had it rough. I haven't gotten too many chances to talk to anybody who was...well, like you, I guess…but for some reason, maybe through some force outside of your control, you and others like you, always end up with the short end of the stick,"  _ she gave the boy solemn look as she continued.  _ "It's like all of you are individually destined to become…a tragedy, and the truth is, I think you deserve better." _

The half-ghoul stared at the girl in shock for nearly a minute, before moving to wipe his tears. “I...I don’t know what to say...thank you, I…”

_ “Yeah, that’s gotta be the first thing I’ll work on,”  _ the ghoulette snorted at the boy’s incredulous look.  _ “Well, your Japanese is really sloppy, and I can tell you’re skipping a lot of words. I’m assuming you also don’t know how to write, is that correct?” _

“...N-Not really, no,” the preteen flinched at the girl’s exasperated look.  _ “Well, at least not Japanese…” _

_ “Oh, that’s good at least...Still, I think I can manage this. I’ve done it more than a few times,”  _ the plum-haired girl shook her head before pinning the boy with a concerned glance.  _ “I do need to ask though, what happened to you? Your hair is white, you’re all...jittery, and I can see some of those scars on your chest.”  _

The half-ghoul quickly pulled the collar of his shirt up at this.  _ “I...it’s hard to explain. I don’t know where I would even start.” _

_ “Riley, relax,”  _ the hybrid flinched when he felt the girl laying a hand on his shoulder.  _ “You don’t have to tell me everything, but I need to know what’s going on.” _

The silver-haired boy set her with a nervous look.  _ “It’ll make you sick…” _

_ “I think I can handle myself.”  _

The boy let out a sigh before looking away from her slightly.  _ “Alright...I’ll try to tell you what I can. I don’t actually remember all of it,”  _ the boy turned back to the girl, flinching as she hung on the edge of her seat at rapt attention.  _ “I think I had just turned five a few months before it began…”  _

  
  



	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Third rewrite, this one cleans up a lot of grammar and spelling errors. Aside from that, I made a lot of changes to the part detailing the OC's past, specifically his self-harm. This time it's more impactful to the characters involved. The ending part was also fixed, to give it less levity.

**6½ months after the escape**

"Nothing! Absolutely nothing!"

"So I assume that you and Crown didn't have any luck finding him in the tunnels?" the doctor said flatly.

The tall half-ghoul stood in front of the map of Tokyo, having marked down every possible entrance to the 24th ward, including some new ones he had been shown by Donato the week prior. The priest in question had left after the week was up, apparently having important business.

'Fuck...' Eric thought. 'What the hell does he even go back to again? A soup kitchen? No wait, that's not what he does,' the teen growled as he lifted the map of the city proper, and viewed the unfinished map of the tunnels beneath. 'Agh, what the hell am I missing?!'

"You know, you could try to focus on something else. You know, to get your mind off of it," the mad scientist held up a pen and motioned to the stack of papers before him. "For instance, I ran through some of the math and conjured up this new theory. I remember how Tsune-sama's liaison had said that they were valuing quantity over quality, but that they weren't looking for anything useless," the doctor scribbled down several notes. "So, while we can't give them a full blooded one-eye for their 'garden' due to your family's medical history, I came up with this plan. Why not just transplant Kakuhou into humans? I think that might work."

"You think it'd create an artificial one-eye?" the teen asked, eyes still not wavering from the map.

"Either that, or create a new species entirely. Who knows...just can't seem to get a scenario where it'd stick-"

The dark-haired boy let out a loud sigh before walking over to his mentor, quickly pulling the pen from his hand and correcting several parts of his notes. "You didn't even factor in that ghouls and humans can share blood-types. You're getting sloppy, old man."

The doctor gaped in shock at his apprentice. 'I hadn't even considered that...' the human quickly cleared his throat before glancing to the nearby map. "Did you think about asking Roma for help?"

"I want somebody who will help me bring him back _here_. Knowing how she feels about him, she'd forgo handing him to me and take him to her sex dungeon instead," the teen clicked his teeth angrily. "Damn pervy hag…"

"She's only 37…the pervert thing might not be too far off," the doctor muttered to himself, then froze as a loud whistling noise sounded out from a nearby room. "Shit, my tea!"

"Pfft, you and your tea. Seriously, you have a problem…" the teen turned to a nearby board with charts, maps, and photos of Subject 3 tacked on. "Damn it, this sucks! What are we gonna do…"

"You need to stop worrying so much," the doctor called out from the kitchen. "It'd probably be better to focus on making the manor presentable. You know, since our benefactors are coming in a week to check things out."

"Uh, hello! Earth to Kanou, I _am_ thinking about our benefactors! He's the one we told them about, he was supposed to be the one we showed off!" the hybrid turned just as his mentor entered the room with a fresh cup of tea. "If we don't have anything, it'll be _our_ asses on the line!"

The mad scientist nonchalantly sipped on his tea, unfazed by his apprentice's anxiety, the possibility of losing funding, or even the prospect of death. He coughed just a bit at the heat before pulling the mug away from his mouth.

"Damn, shouldn't have made it so hot...anyway, there's no need to make a fuss…" a dangerous gleam flashed through the doctor's eyes. "We can just show them Subject 2 instead."

He let out a hearty chuckle when he saw his apprentice stiffen out the corner of his eye. "Doc… are you sure about that?"

"Why are you so apprehensive around her?"

"Because my br-Subject 3 was-"

"Eric, just drop that for now," the doctor said with a deadpan expression.

"Alright fuck it, sure whatever!" the boy growled. "I'm apprehensive about my sister because Riley...well, he was predictable. When I tortured him, mocked him incessantly, generally just screwed around, well...his reactions were pretty standard," the teen ran a hand through his dark hair as a sigh escaped his lips. "Y'know, he'd stab me through the stomach, spit in my face, tell me to go fuck myself. The only time he was scared was when I brought a needle in, or when I was just really pissed, or if I told him Roma or Donato had arrived and wanted to 'spend time' with him."

"So what makes your sister so different?"

"You know exactly why! She's a different kind of crazy from him! She just sits in her cell all day, acting completely catatonic...unless you open the door. Then…" the teen drew a finger across his throat in a slicing motion. "She just goes batshit, turns into some unstoppable killing machine that kills whatever enters her vision, she can't be reasoned with. She's basically just a toy robot with a 'kill' setting and an off switch you can't press. The worst part is…" the teen let out a pacified grunt. "It's the way she looks at me when we activate the two way glass thingie. With Riley, all that's there is just pure hatred, maybe some regret. With Erin...it's this blank stare, but it's like she's up to something, and I do _not_ like whatever it is."

"That's why I think she'd be the perfect demonstration!" the doctor stated happily.

"Eh?"

"Think about it, the only time she stops rampaging is when you reduce her to an almost literal bloody paste," the doctor stroked his chin in thought for a few seconds. "If we can put her under and get her in the testing room, then drop in the "dummies" that our benefactors plan to bring with them, it'll be the perfect show for them," he turned to the teen with a bright smile. "Just as long as you keep on standby, then there's no chance she could escape. It'll also be a good demonstration of her healing factor, since her's is much more potent than even your brother's."

The teen looked unsure for a moment, then defeat permeated across his face as his shoulders slouched. "Alright doc, we'll go with your plan?"

"I never said you should stop looking for your brother," the doctor chided playfully.

"Where the hell would I even start looking down there?!" the teen cried out petulantly.

"If you couldn't find him in your initial ventures into the tunnels, he's most likely found a decent hiding spot down there," The doctor tilted his head as a thought occurred to him. "Well, that, or he was taken in by one of the many buffoons in this world that developed pathological altruism…"

* * *

**"24th ward", Tokyo**

Meiko sat next to the half-ghoul as he practiced writing, taking the time to correct him on mistakes and fixing his grammar. At one point, the hybrid had made a test sentence using the wrong honorific, causing the girl to sweat drop.

_"Ah, hang on a sec kiddo! That's not the correct way to use the '-dono' honorific."_

"It's not?" the silver-haired boy blinked owlishly at the girl. _"My dad...actually, you might be right. I just didn't know what to put there."_

_"Well, for a samurai, or warrior, since you used the generic word for either, you wouldn't use that unless you were both on the same rank,"_ the ghoulette adjusted her glasses and gave the boy a sympathetic look. _"Maybe you could use '-kun' or '-san', maybe the last one if you don't know them too well."_

_"I see…"_ the half-ghoul quickly corrected his mistake. _"I'm sorry about this...and, thank you for putting up with-"_

_"None of that! You're a nice kid...plus, my room hasn't been this clean for a while,"_ the plum-haired girl motioned to the near spotless floor. _"You're a real neat freak, huh?"_

_"I guess…"_ the preteen cupped a hand to his chin in thought. _"What would I use in a fight? Like, if I wanted to call my opponent something?"_

_"To insult them?"_ the ghoulette snorted at the boy's nervous look. _"If you're fighting a really strong dove, but you're winning, you can probably get away with_ '-dono', _and it'll piss them off. When I fight certain people though, I've called them_ '-teme' _to lay it on thick."_

_"So, call them bastards or act really respectful towards them, they'll be mad either way?"_

_"Well, they hate us...all of us,"_ Meiko giggled as she became caught up in her thoughts. _"So, from my experience, they get angrier if you act like you're equal to them, since they're all so close-minded," _the plum-haired girl's mouth formed into a frown._ "It never really worked on those people though…"_

The half-ghoul waved his hand in front of the girl's face. "You alright, nee-san?"

_"Ah, don't worry I was just lost in thought,"_ she said quickly, sporting an embarrassed blush which quickly fell as realization spread across her features. "_Hey…you just called me_ nee-san."

Riley froze and looked meekly at the older girl. _"I...I guess I did…"_

Meiko flashed him a reassuring smile. _"Hey, I'm not mad remember. I said it'd be ok if you did call me that."_

_"Yeah, it's just…"_ a pained look flashed across his features as his eyes misted over.

_"You have hang-ups over it, because of what happened to you,"_ she offered, to which the half-ghoul nodded slowly in confirmation. "_Hey, relax. I won't push it."_

Riley immediately went back to practicing his kanji, stopping every so often to figure out the pronunciation of the words and sentences he wrote. The girl watched intently as he practiced, every so often correcting certain lines or phrases. In between this, she silently reminisced on what the preceding months had been like.

To start things off, she had listened to the boy's story, or at least what he could remember. The first few minutes, she couldn't believe what she was hearing. The only reason she knew he was telling her the truth was his eyes, the sapphire orbs having dulled over not long after he had started. She steeled herself through the entire story, having thought the worst of it had been over once he had gotten through telling her about the unwanted advances from one of his two original kidnappers.

Then he began telling her about what happened on his 9th birthday. Meiko had never felt more sick in her entire life, her gut still clenched even now as she thought about it. Riley's demeanor throughout that part of the story didn't make it better, the girl genuinely felt her heart crack when she saw the look in his eyes.

They were hopeless and dead, pure anguish seeping through them constantly, even as she sat next to him in the present. It was a look that shouldn't exist in someone his age, another sliver of innocence that had been lost to this cruel world.

During the first month and a half, she had started improving his grasp on the Japanese language, and she was pleased to find that he absorbed the information like a sponge. Once she was sure they could at least communicate on a basic level, she had begun taking him out with her on mock patrols throughout their section of the 24th. It was during those times that she had outlined exactly how things worked in the specific area.

The section of the tunnels she ran was a spot deep beneath the border between Tokyo and Saitama, known as the 'Green Zone' due to its abundance of flora and fauna. Taking up a few hundred acres of space, with one entrance to Nerima and plenty routes leading to Nishitōkyō and Kiyose, it was a chore to run, regardless of how much help she had or how tame the ghouls living here were in comparison to the rest of the tunnels.

Of course, the main problem wasn't rival groups of ghouls wishing to take over, or even dangerous serial cannibals looking to improve their kakujas. No, the worst thing about running the place was the wildlife, the dangerous and sometimes rabid wildlife that was also ironically their saving grace. While boars were a major problem, the worst they had to deal with were the bears, something no sane individual of any species would want to deal with.

She told Riley exactly what running the green zone meant. Whenever a bear did show up, and nobody could be bothered to get off their asses to get rid of it, she or one of her friends took care of it. If a group of ghouls moved through the section on their way to fight another gang or the doves, she'd make sure they didn't cause trouble. While they made sure everything outside the area wasn't a threat, they also made sure everything inside was all under control. Any disputes could be solved with careful mediation, but could involve a fight if the situation dictated. As was ghoulish etiquette. Food was solved by scavenging kills from outside disputes, or from those who would cause issues inside, much like the koukaku type the half-ghoul had killed months prior.

While she was sure she had the boy's full trust, Meiko realized she was caught in a dilemma. The preteen had no idea how to properly fight, the most he knew was to flail his arms or swing his bikaku tail around and hope he could hit something. The girl knew she would need to take particular care when it came to training him, but she also knew she wouldn't be able to do it alone.

The ghoulette laid a hand on the boy's shoulder and sent him a kind smile. _"Alright, I think that's enough for today."_

"...You sure? I think I could go on for a bit longer."

The girl snorted at this. _"That was pretty good...you mispronounced_ 'Mōsukoshi' _just a bit."_

"Damn…"

_"Relax, you'll get it eventually,"_ the plum-haired girl patted his shoulder. _"The worst thing you'll have is an accent, and that's not always bad. I have an accent in english."_

_"Yours is almost flawless,"_ the half-ghoul noted.

_"I had to spend years learning it though. Don't worry, you'll get it eventually."_

The silver-haired boy tilted his head curiously._ "How did you learn english anyway?"_

Meiko bit her lip at this. _"It's...not something I'd like to go into detail about,"_ the girl huffed lowly. "It's complicated. I doubt you'd understand what-" the plum-haired girl paled when she realized what she had nearly said. _"No, nevermind. I...I've been through pretty bad stuff, but you probably had it worse."_

_"What do you mean?"_ the half-breed gave the girl a concerned frown. _"Whatever it is, you can tell me, right?"_

The ghoulette sighed before hugging her knees to her chest. _"Like I said, it's complicated...the gist is, my family sucks."_

_"You still have family though, right?"_

_"It's not the same,"_ Meiko said sternly, before flinching at the hybrid's nervous expression. _"I'm sorry, it's just...I have a lot of issues about that."_

_"I get it,"_ the half-ghoul clicked his teeth. _"I mean, my brother tarnished my innocence, and he helped a mad scientist turn me into a mutant."_

The plum-haired girl frowned at the boy's declaration. _"You aren't a mutant, Riley. Seriously, why do you keep saying that anyway?"_

Riley caught her in a deadpan stare, then stood from his chair and walked a couple of steps backwards. In a split second, he had released his white bikaku tail and held the sharpened end to his neck. Before the ghoulette could even ask what he was doing, the half-ghoul's tail made a quick slashing motion. Meiko's breath nearly died in her throat when she saw his decapitated head fly upward.

"E-EEEEEEP!" the girl went ghost pale and began breathing hysterically in panic. "W-Why?! What the hell?! Please no, please-" the bespectacled girl went silent once she saw what happened next.

Not even seconds after his self decapitation, a blood-red kagune-like mass rose from Riley's headless body and dragged his wayward cranium back towards his shoulders. The moment his neck stump met with his torn throat, his RC cells quickly rebuilt his lost tissue, reconnected his torn nerves and blood vessels, and completely repaired his shorn bone, all in a handful of seconds.

Once his head was fully reattached, the half-ghoul swayed in place for a few seconds. _"Ugh...that always makes me feel light headed when I do it…"_ the boy shook his head clear before looking back to the girl with a sheepish grin. _"So, what was that about me not being a mutant?"_

Meiko moved her mouth, but it took several seconds for her to find her voice. _"Ok, first off...d-don't decapitate yourself ever again please. Normal, well-adjusted people do not decapitate themselves,"_ the plum-haired girl sweatdropped. "_I can't believe I have to tell an 11-year old this...I can't believe I have to say that to anybody period."_

The half-ghoul sat on his sleeping back with a downcast expression. _"Sorry...you still didn't answer my question though."_

The girl sighed as she adjusted her glasses. _"Yeah, I get it...you heal really fast, and you can survive your head being chopped off,"_ Meiko shuddered before blinking her unease away. _"Plus, your kagune is pretty big."_

_"I am too…"_ the half-ghoul sighed. _"Remember how I said my dad was really tall...he always told me I'd probably get that big too."_

_"And I get it, you think that's freaky too…but, it's not like something is wrong with you or anything*,"_ the girl said nervously. "_Maybe you think those things make you weird, and you probably have a good reason to dislike them, but they're only as bad as you make them. If other people want to shun you because of the things that make you you, then that's their fault,"_ Meiko snorted at the boy's incredulous look. _"I'm serious! You shouldn't be treated any different from the rest of us."_

Riley stared at her blankly for several seconds before making a sucked in laugh. _"You're right...the birds would just kill me like they would everybody else."_

_"You know what I meant!"_

The half-ghoul chewed the inside of his cheek before letting out a small giggle. The plum-haired girl sent the boy a kind smile, letting out a small chuckle alongside him.

_"Do you feel better now?"_

The half-ghoul smiled back at the girl. _"Yeah, I guess I do...thanks, nee-san…"_

_"Good, now then,"_ the ghoulette turned to her watch. _"It's getting pretty late. I'm thinking we head down to the stream,"_ Meiko stood up and moved to her bookshelf, grabbing a small box at the top. _"You know the drill, when we get there we gotta wash our faces, brush our teeth, the like. Don't forget, you'll need to use deodorant,"_ the girl snorted at the boy's groans as she grabbed a few towels.

_"I still don't like how people keep giving us stares though...especially that old guy."_

_"Che, they can stare all they want,"_ the bespectacled girl let a growl trickle into her voice as she remembered the last several times they had gone to wash up. _"Seriously, just because we all live in caves and eat people, doesn't mean we can't be hygienic…"_

* * *

Riley woke with a startled gasp, his entire body shaking violently. The silver-haired boy could barely hold a hand to his face, both his palms were sweating and shaking. In between his ragged breathing, he noticed how different his pillow felt from when he went to sleep.

The boy looked up to see his surrogate sister looming over him, a soft smile tugging at the corners of her lips. The half-ghoul felt slim fingers gently running across his unruly bleached mane.

_"Y-You haven't done this before…"_ the boy said quietly.

_"It seemed like it was a bad one this time,"_ the plum-haired girl gave him a concerned look. _"What was it this time?"_

_"It wasn't the same as the other ones...It was **those** people,"_ the preteen shuddered for a few seconds before continuing. _"The clowns...that woman Gypsy, and the creepy guy dressed like a priest."_

Meiko tilted her head at this. _"Did...did the priest ever do anything to you? Like what Gypsy did?"_

_"No...he just...ate whatever pieces were cut off,"_ the boy swallowed a lump in his throat. _"They...they were standing over me...and they…"_

_"Hey, calm down,"_ the girl said quickly. _"It's been six months, and this place is really far out from most entrances. They're not going to find you, and your brother isn't going to find you. You're safe, I promise…"_

The half-ghoul's turned to look up at the girl. _"I know what you're gonna ask...go ahead…"_

_"...When you decapitated yourself...have you done that before? Or...anything like that?"_

The preteen looked away from the girl. _"I only figured out I could survive that after a 'lab accident' when I was 9,"_ he said quietly. _"Before that, I'd use my tail to draw blood. I...I figured bleeding to death would be better than what they had in store for me the next day."_

_"You survived though?"_

_"They'd catch it just in time to 'save' me…"_ the boy clenched his teeth as his eyes screwed shut. _"Eventually, I started healing too fast for it to stick."_

_"...How many times?"_

_"Hmm?"_

_"How many times did you do it?"_ the girl flinched at the hybrid's thoughtful expression. _"For both, not one or the other. Please, don't dance around it."_

The half-ghoul sat up from the girl's lap pillow and gave her a blank look before holding up four fingers. _"I only cut off my head that many times. I stopped because it didn't work,"_ the boy looked at his hands before sighing. "_I can't count how many times I cut at my arms...there aren't a lot of scars on them though…"_

Meiko moved her hand towards the boy's shoulder, freezing for a split second when he flinched. The girl sent the boy a firm gaze before pulling him into a tight hug.

_"Riley, don't forget what I said! You're safe here, I promise,"_ the ghoulette's lip quivered when she felt the boy letting out a quiet sob. _"Come on, you need to get some sleep…"_

* * *

**A full week later**

Riley sat at the table alone, attempting to improve his kanji on his own time. Attempting being the keyword, as it was made somewhat more difficult by his caretaker's strange behavior. The plum-haired girl groping around the inside of her storage box while muttering to herself, occasionally any junk or unused items behind her.

The half-ghoul had already released his bikaku kagune not long after she had opened the box, occasionally interrupting his writing to grab any items that had been haphazardly flung around and sort them into a neat pile. While he had gotten used to his surrogate sister's habits involving her storage trunk, he still sweatdropped whenever he watched.

The preteen snorted at the girl's antics. 'How does most of this stuff even fit in a box that small? I mean, how does she have 2 whole chairs stuff in there?'

The girl let out a muffled noise of exclamation before hauling her upper body out of her strongbox. The half-ghoul blinked when he saw her holding up two bags of coffee beans and, for some strange reason, a ball of yarn. The silver-haired boy blinked in confusion, wondering if she had hit her head or skipped a meal within the past week.

Meiko turned to look at the boy, only to grimace at the pile she had accumulated. "Hehe...oops..."

The hybrid let out a short sigh. _"I don't wanna know how you fit all that stuff in there..or why you keep it…"_ the boy tilted his head as he faced her. _"I do want to know why the ball of yarn is necessary though."_

_"I'm having some people over,"_ the ghoulette said cheerfully.

_"...Again, the ball of yarn?"_

_"Ah, right...remember how I mentioned my friends a while back?"_

Riley tapped his chin in thought. _"I think you talked about them a few times…"_

_"Well, I figured that it's about time you met them,"_ the girl said happily. _"I mean, aside from making new friends, getting more help with Japanese, and so on, they can help me train you how to fight."_

_"...Wait, what?!"_

_"Yeah, I want to train you but all the stuff I know is way too advanced for you to start out with,"_ the plum-haired girl cupped a hand to her chin in thought. _"So, I figured my group could help out with the basics. You'll definitely need a lot of help-"_

_"Wait, what are you talking about?"_ the boy gaped at Meiko's confused look. _"I know how to fight just fin-"_

_"No, no you do not,"_ the ghoulette said flatly. _"You do know how to flail your arms around and swing your tail. You do **not** know how to properly fight like most ghouls do."_

_"What about that guy I killed four months ago? We're still eating him, aren't we?"_

_"You were half-starved with a weakened kagune, you barely got that lucky shot in,"_ the girl wagged a finger at him while clicking her teeth. _"Listen to me, I know what I'm talking about-"_

_"What about the lab? I escaped from a mad scientist's maximum security research compound!"_

_"You kicked down a wooden door,"_ the plum-haired girl sighed as the boy deflated. _"Ok, you said there was more to it than that, but how much 'maximum security' could that guy have had if his last line of defense was a wooden door?"_

_"Can't I seem like a badass just once?"_

Meiko tilted her head, before a sly grin spread across her face. _"Tell you what, I'll let you off the hook on this, if…"_ the ghoulette stuffed her hands into her sleeves and wiggled them shortly, before pulling out a small pebble and placing it in her right palm. _"If you can snatch this from my hand."_

The half-ghoul blinked owlishly at the girl for a few seconds, before snorting. _"What, like those karate movies? Alright then,"_ the hybrid stood up and walked over to the girl, staring down at her with a smug grin. _"This should be easy!"_

It was not easy.

The moment Riley's hand darted towards the pebble, Meiko clamped her fingers around it and pulled her hand away faster than he could react, before holding the stone out towards him again. The half-ghoul frowned before making another attempt, gritting his teeth once again as the girl pulled her hand away. This repeated for nearly a minute until the half-ghoul had finally seemed to grab onto the pebble.

In an instance, the boy suddenly found himself several feet in the air, courtesy of the ghoulette lifting him by his chest with a single hand. Meiko sent him a sheepish grin before gently placing the shocked hybrid back on the ground.

_"Sorry, just wanted to make a point. Maybe I shouldn't have gone overboard at that last part,"_ the girl shook her head as she held the pebble in between two fingers. _"But yeah, the point was that you aren't gonna get strong just because you're a giant and a one-eyed ghoul. You have to learn **how** to get strong, build yourself up to it."_

_"I...alright, fine."_

_"You're not mad that I hauled you into the air like that, are you?"_

_"No...I just feel imacculated…"_

_"You mean emasculated?"_

_"Yeah, that word,"_ the boy rolled his shoulders before looking down with a short sigh.

_"Also, stand up straight! You should try to look confident, and you'll get a stoop if you slouch like that all the time,"_ the girl giggled as the preteen stood upright with a sheepish look.

Any further conversation halted at the sound of light knocking at their door.

_"That's them!"_ the plum-haired girl hid the ball of yarn in her sleeve and quickly ran to the door, clearing her throat before opening the small sliding panel on the doors face. "Hello?~"

"What's the password?" a feminine voice called out.

Meiko sweatdropped at this. "Uh...Neko, aren't I the one who's supposed to ask that?"

"Oh yeah...I forgot though…"

The plum-haired girl nearly face-vaulted at this. "Neko, I never had an entry password."

There was a tired sigh echoing into the room, before a masculine voice chimed in. "Hey, boss-lady, could you please just let us in?"

Meiko shook her head before beginning the process of undoing the _many_ locks on her door. The half-ghoul behind her gulped nervously as two people walked inside.

The first person was a short teenage girl with shoulder length, dark brown hair. She was clad in voluminous, tattered brown linens and dirty sandals. Her amber-colored eyes had a cheerful, but somewhat absent look in them, and a small smile decorated her face.

The second was an older teenager, a boy of average height and short reddish-brown hair. His robes were less baggy than either of the girls in the room, and the wrappings around his feet just barely resembled shoes. His red eyes caught Riley in an analytical gaze.

Meiko rested her hands on the shoulders her guests, flashing a bright smile

"Alright, introductions are in order. This is Tetsuomi and Neneko," she said, motioning to the boy and girl respectively.

Riley gave a quick yet formal bow to them. "I-I'm Riley, it's nice to meet you."

The redhead moved towards the boy, scrutinizing him for several seconds before cupping his face. The hybrid flinched as the teen turned his head two and fro to examine him.

"Umm…"

"Huh! So she wasn't bullshitting..." the redhead muttered

"Tetsuo! You can't just grab a person's face out of nowhere!" Meiko called out.

Testuomi jolted at her outburst before turning back to her with a sheepish look. "Ah, sorry boss...it's just, when you said '6 foot tall 11-year old', I didn't believe it at first...but yeah, I can totally see it," the teen poked the side of the boy's cheek playfully. "I mean, he's got that little kid face, and no facial hair whatsoever, plus I can tell he's a real shrimp. The obvious conclusion is that his balls haven't dropped yet."

"Hey!" the half-ghoul protested

"Yeah, you're not wrong," the purple haired girl said as she adjusted her glasses. "I mean, his arms are like chicken bones, and he makes little noodle punches."

"I'm right here!" the hybrid protested.

Any further protests from him were cut short as Neneko's goofily smiling visage suddenly appeared directly in his field of view.

"Konnichiwa~"

"Gaah!" Riley jumped back slightly at the short brunette's sudden invasion of his personal space.

The smiling girl just giggled. "It's nice to meet you Rei-Roy…Rairī-chan" she said, fumbling over the pronunciation of his name a bit. "Thats a funny name, I've never heard a Japanese name that sounded like that before!"

"That's because it isn't…"

"Isn't what?"

"A Japanese name..." the preteen said flatly

"...There are names that aren't japanese!?" the brunette cried out.

Riley just looked to his caretaker and her other friend, who were both chuckling at the shorter girl's antics. Meiko gave the boy a reassuring smile.

"Sorry, she can be sort of a…what's the word I'm looking for again?"

"A total ditz?" Testuomi offered.

"Yeah that! _We even nicknamed her "Neko" because she has the attention span of a small cat."_

In order to demonstrate, she brought out the ball of yarn she had previously hidden and held it aloft in the air. The reaction from the brunette was instant. With an audible 'nyan~', she immediately darted over to her friend and attempted to obtain the clump of thread, jumping up at the purple haired girl's arm and letting out small squeaks that barely sound like the words 'gimme'.

Meiko giggled a bit before finally relenting at her friend's demands. The moment she relinquished the ball of yarn, the shorter girl bounced backwards onto the sleeping bags, curling up and pawing at the entwined thread like a large feline. Riley stared at the small girl's actions in pure bafflement, unsure of how to react to the sight of a person acting like a giant cat.

The half-ghoul gaped in shock. _"She...she's acting like...a cat…"_

Meiko only snorted at the look on her surrogate brother's face. _"Don't worry, you'll get used to how she acts."_

While the cat-like girl played with her yarn ball alone, Meiko pulled an extra chair for her unoccupied guest. She motioned for both Riley and Testuomi to sit down, pouring the two of them a cup of coffee beans each.

"So...you're American?" the redhead began.

"Yeah...I don't speak much Japanese," the silver-haired boy said nervously.

"But he's learning _really_ fast," Meiko chimed in.

"Not as fast as I'd like…"

Tetsuomi's mouth formed into a flat line. "Uh-huh...Mei-chan kind of told me the bare minimum about your situation."

"...What do you know?"

"Just the basics...y'know," the redhead glanced to the brunette for a split second, then his voice came out as a whisper. "So, the mad scientist, the torture...the super healing."

The boy gave him a curt nod. "It's not...something I like talking about."

"I could imagine," the teen rubbed the back of his neck. "I also heard you need to be trained how to fight."

"So I'm told," the silver-haired boy shook his head. "I'm not sure where I'd start though."

"Well, that's kind of why Neko and I...why _I'm_ here. To get a good feel on you," Tetsuomi tilted his head to the side. "How good are you at using your legs?"

"Eh?"

"Y'know, for kicking and stuff."

"Not as good as I'd want," the boy said, looking at his arms in thought before sighing. _"I'm no good with my arms either though."_

The redhead blinked in confusion before the plum-haired girl quickly translated. "That's fine bud, you're not supposed to figure that stuff out just like that."

"Exactly! _With our help, things will work out,"_ Meiko cringed at the boy's unsure expression. _"Riley, you can't get strong on your own. Right now, Neko could kick your ass," the girl pointed to the cat-like brunette on the floor. "She gets distracted by yarn and shiny things, and she'd take you out in under a minute. You have to let us help you."_

Tetsuomi gaped as the girl translated her monologue to him. "Mei, you sure? I mean, yeah he needs help, but us?"

"Not_ just_ the three of us you idiot! _All_ of us!" the plum-haired girl puffed her cheeks up. "What, you think I could do it alone?"

"Where would you start though?

"Well, obviously we'd need to get him on an exercise schedule," the girl tapped her chin in thought. "Plus, I wanted to teach him my fighting style, or maybe a version that works for him. Plus, how to use his kagune," Meiko turned to the redhead. "You know I'm not really that good at shaping it, so Morio could help us out with that."

"There's also the fact that he _will_ get a kakuja, since he's gonna be living down here for his own safety," Tetsuomi sighed at the girl's nervous look. "You know that's how it works. We all have them, remember."

The half-ghoul blinked in confusion. "What's a kakuja?"

_"Nothing you need to worry about right now,"_ the plum-haired girl waved a hand dismissively. _"I'll get around to it when I can, but you shouldn't get one for a while*."_

_"Alright then…"_

Meiko turned back to the redhead. "Are they in that spot?"

"Same spot we always choose for stuff like that," Tetsuomi snorted. "Well, unless Kosshi found a guy and is off getting her-" the teen flinched when he remembered the boy across from him. "I didn't mean...that's not-"

"I already know about that."

"...How?!" the redhead wheezed out.

The silver-haired boy turned away from them. "I'd rather not say."

The teen wasn't able to get another word out before a hand gripped his shoulder. "Tetsuo, just leave it be," Meiko turned to the half-ghoul with a cheerful smile. _"Are you ready to get going? We're gonna meet the others."_

"Oh, alright," the half-ghoul stood up and followed the two to the door.

Before they left, the plum-haired girl turned to the cat-girl with a sigh. "Neko, we're going out. You coming or not?"

The cat-like girl looked over to her friend, motioning to the ball of yarn."Nyaaan~?"

"Neko-chan, you can bring it with you and play with it when we get there"

"Nyaaaan~!" the brunette cried happily

"I am gonna take it back later though"

"NYAAAN~!"

* * *

"So, that's how you're so tall huh?"

The four moved through the tunnels at a leisurely pace, with Meiko taking the lead. Behind her, Tetsuomi and Riley keeping pace not far behind. At the back, Neneko swayed around while playing with her ball of yarn.

"Yeah, I think my dad was just over 8 feet," the tall hybrid shrunk at the redhead's curious look. "So, I probably inherited it. I'll probably get pretty tall too, I guess."

"I think you might have grown an inch or so actually," Meiko chimed in from the front

"You're actually a giant?" the brunette behind them piped up.

"Uh, yeah but-"

"Which mountain do you guys come from?"

The redhead sputtered at his friend's remark. "Neko! What the hell?"

"Oh yeah you're right…you said he's a westerner..." she looked up at the tall preteen with a smile. "So what was it like at the top of the beanstalk?"

"Jesus Neko, what the hell?" the redhead went pale when the silver-haired boy's eyes moved to him. "Is that… is that racist?"

Riley just blinked owlishly at him in confusion. "I don't understand, are those references to something?"

The redhead gave the preteen a sideways glance. "Oh wow, you had an awful childhood."

_"I'm pretty sure that's an understatement..."_ Riley muttered coldly.

Halfway there, the half-ghoul froze as something danced around the corner of his vision. The silver-haired boy turned his head as an unseen bluish figure pranced just out of sight. The boy swore he could hear a short giggle echoing through the stretch of tunnels.

'Is that her?' the boy shuddered. 'Why here?! Why now?!'

"Riley!" the boy jolted at his caretaker's voice. _"You're lagging behind! Come on kiddo, we need to get going."_

The hybrid nodded slowly. _"Right, sorry…"_

Riley followed them for several more minutes when a loud clanging noise echoed from nearby, followed by several angry growls. Meiko let out a sigh before quietly leading the other three into a large underground chamber that was currently the site of a small battle between two ghouls. While the half-ghoul idly noticed three others on the sidelines, he was entirely focused on the two locked in combat.

The first was a girl with light brown hair, clearly a few years older than him and just around his height. She wore tattered linens that were more form fitting than the robes his surrogate sister and Neneko wore. The unknown ghoul slashed at her opponent with a large koukaku kagune that took the shape of a long bone-like blade that curled around her right arm.

When Riley got a good look at her opponent, he was sure he was looking at another girl. His sense of smell was the only clue that it was the opposite. He was a boy with neck length blonde hair who looked to be around Meiko's age, and was very short in comparison to his opponent. Trailing behind him were eight segmented tendrils tipped with talons, all of them poised towards the tall brunette.

The rinkaku type used his kagune to jab at his opponent, who narrowly blocked his strikes. He pushed his advantage with several kicks directed towards her torso, his extra limbs stabbing towards her feet. The koukaku user narrowly dodged the blows and used her skeletal blade to launch herself away from the insectoid legs attempting to spear her toes.

Riley's attention shifted from the fight as he noticed a figure walking towards them. He was greeted to the sight of Meiko greeting a dark-haired teen with brown eyes. The half-ghoul gingerly approached them, freezing when the teen turned his gaze to him.

"So, that's him huh?" an unreadable expression wormed its way across his features as the girl nodded.

The silver-haired boy walked forward at the plum-haired girl's insistence, and bowed. "M-My name is Riley! It's nice to meet you!"

The half-ghoul flinched as the raven-haired teen let out a sigh. "I'm Moriomi, but you can call me Morio if you want," the teen helped the boy stand up, flashing him a bright smile. "Also, you don't have to bow like that to anybody here. Nobody down here is any better than you are," Morio turned to his boss with a curious glance. "So, you want help training him?"

"Well, yeah…" the girl rubbed the back of her neck sheepishly. "I wanted to teach him my fighting style, with a few adjustments, and obviously how to use his kagune. I just need a lot of help with his exercise, since he's a real shrimp-"

"Hey!" the preteen protested, only to be ignored.

"So it would be something to work on. Aside from that..." Meiko swallowed a lump in her throat and turned away from the dark-haired teen."I need help with…teachinghimtoshapehiskagune."

Moriomi blinked a few times at this. "Sorry, I couldn't quite catch that last part, could you repeat yourself?"

The girl just sighed, and adjusted her glasses while gritting her teeth. "I need help…teaching him to shape his kagune."

Moriomi's mouth turned upward into a smug grin. "Well…since you're asking, sure! I'll be happy to teach you two how to change the shape of your kagune."

Meiko leveled a deadpan glare at the older teen. "I was just talking about him."

"Yeah, but you need to learn too. It's a useful skill Meiko."

The two were interrupted by a loud crash and a massive amount of dust being flung into the air. When the dust settled, Riley saw the two ghouls who had previously been locked in combat now on the ground, a small amount of blood pooling around them. The rinkaku ghoul knelt on his left knee, several slash wounds marring his body, while the koukaku user lay on the ground, left arm and right leg bent in unnatural angles.

"Nii-chan!"

A girl perfectly identical to the rinkaku user in appearance ran over to him and attempted to help him up. The effeminate boy brushed her off as he pulled himself off the ground.

"Imouto, I'm fine. Already healing, see?" he said, pointing to the slash wounds that were already knitting themselves together with a speed greater than the average of his RC type.

A grunt drew the sibling's attention to the brown-haired teen not far away as the girl grabbed her broken leg and bent it back into place, sickening cracks and crunches accompanying it. She soon did the same to her arm, all the while sending a glare the blonde's way.

"Next time twerp, you'll be the one with his ass knocked on the dirt!"

"Would you stop calling me twerp, I'm 16!" he cried out.

"Yeah, and you're also short! Haha!" the girl pointed at him with her skeletal kagune for emphasis.

Riley's gaze was drawn by a short sigh nearby, courtesy of the last member of the group. A dark-haired boy of average height, possibly no older than the half-ghoul himself, looked on at the scene as boredom seeped through his green eyes..

Neneko walked over to the annoyed boy with a skip in her step. "Hi Kenta-kun~"

The boy only grunted in response.

"So, howya doin?"

Another grunt, accompanied by shrugging his shoulders.

"That's great, you seem less moody than normal."

The boy let out a shorter grunt and nodded slightly.

"So you know that kid Mei-chan told us about?"

One of the boy's eyebrows rose as he let out a curious grunt.

"She brought him with her today! He's kinda cute, he speaks this other language, he's half giant, but he kinda smells weird...

Riley watched as the ditzy brunette subject the quiet boy to a massive word vomit. 'Does he have some other language or something? How can she understand him?'

The half-ghoul flinched as he noticed the other three approaching him. The two blondes looked at him curiously with wide baby-blue eyes. The tall brunette glared at him skeptically with dark grey eyes.

The blonde girl quickly turned to Meiko. "So, this is him, huh?" the girl hummed at her boss's nod before flashing the boy a kind smile. _"Hello Riley, my name is Kinuyo. It's nice to meet you."_

The half-ghoul blinked in confusion for several seconds before dipping his head. "It's nice to meet you too, I guess."

The girl's twin scrutinized the boy as he spoke. "Kind of high pitched voice...still, you sure he's a kid?"

"Pfft, you sure you're _not_ a kid?" the tall brunette chortled at the blonde's angry growl.

"Listen you! I swear-"

"Nii-san, none of that!" Kinuyo slammed a fist onto her brother's head. "Go on, introduce yourself."

The male twin sighed before turning back to the tall boy. _"Yo! I'm Kinunao, nice to meet ya,"_ the teen elbowed his sister in the ribs. "There, happy now?"

Riley stared at the two blankly. _"You guys speak english…"_

"They also speak commie," the tall brunette chuckled.

"Russian!" the twins protested.

"Whatever you wanna call it…" the girl narrowed her grey eyes as she stood directly in front of the boy, then grabbed him by the chin as she scrutinized him. "Hmm...yeah, you have that kind of baby face...definitely means your balls haven't dropped yet," the tall girl clicked her teeth as she set the boy with a stern glare. "Doesn't mean shit though. If you say or do anything wrong, your ass is grass! Got it?"

"Kosshi!" Meiko barked angrily, huffing when the other girl bared her teeth and turned away. _"Riley, I'm really sorry! Kosshi is just a bit...abrasive, I guess the term is, especially towards new faces."_

The half-ghoul stared at the taller girl blankly. _"It's because I'm white, isn't it?"_

"The fuck you just say about me?!"

The plum-haired girl sweatdropped. _"She also barely understands english…"_ the bespectacled ghoul let out a sigh before translating to Kosshi.

The tall girl lost a bit of color. "No, that's not it! I just don't trust people automatically, has nothing to do with...I'm just making it sound worse, aren't I?"

Kinunao snorted. "Yeah, definitely making it sound worse."

There was an exasperated grunt nearby, to which the half-ghoul turned to find the dark-haired preteen from earlier. The boy tilted his head as an unreadable expression flashed through his bright green eyes.

Meiko put a hand on the dark-haired boy's shoulder and flashed both preteens a smile. _"Riley, this is Kentetsu, but he's fine just being called Kenta,"_ the girl let out a small laugh at Kentetsu's shrug. _"He speaks english...but he doesn't actually 'speak' because he's mute."_

Moriomi chuckled while elbowing the taller boy in the ribs. "If you _ever_ hear him speak, tell me. I've been waiting to hear his voice for years."

"So...you brought him here to meet us?" Kinunao turned to the plum-haired girl with a questioning glance. "Why exactly? Cause I know there's more to it."

"Well, a big part of it was that I wanted him to meet you. Y'know, get a good feel about how he'll fit, see if everybody gets along," Meiko's shoulders slunk. "I also need help training him, maybe teaching him Japanese, but mostly training him how to fight."

"I think the two of us could help him with the japanese," Kinuyo sent a glare to her brother before he could protest. "But, I'm not sure where to start on training. Plus...well, there's something about him, I just can't place it."

Kosshi snorted loudly. "It's his smell. He smells funky. Maybe that's just how America smells or something."

"Probably right. My sis and I don't smell like that, so it can't be the white people smell," Kinunao chortled at the tall girl's indignant look.

"So, you guys don't trust him because he smells weird?" Meiko said slowly.

"No, I don't trust him 'cause I know almost nothing about him," the male twin corrected.

"I just don't like new faces, remember," Kosshi ignored the blonde boy's 'coughing' before continuing. "Plus...I don't think he trusts us either. Do I have that right, big guy?"

The half-ghoul squirmed in place as his caretaker reluctantly translated. _"I'm sorry, you guys are all really nice...sort of,"_ the hybrid quickly looked away from the tall girl. _"I'm just...nervous, I guess. I haven't really met a lot of other ghouls, and aside from Meiko, I haven't had a good experience with the ones I have met,"_ the silver-haired boy set the group with a fierce look. _"But, Meiko is the only person in years whose been nice to me. If she trusts you, then I'll trust you too."_

Kosshi tilted her head as her boss finished translating. "Hmph...there's a lot more to this, I just know it..but, I guess I don't need to be on guard around ya all the time," the brunette set the boy with a blank look. "Doesn't change what I said before though...also, you still smell weird."

"Nyaa, he does smell pretty funny when you get down to it," Neneko called out from the sidelines, having gone back to batting her yarn ball well into the conversation. "America has a bunch of 'states', right? Maybe the one he came from has people that smells funny," the cat-girl turned to the tall boy. "Which state did you come from?"

"Uh...California?"

"That one is hot, right?"

"I guess…"

"There we go then~" the cat-girl said cheerfully.

Riley sweatdropped at this. "That's not why I smell funny…"

"Then why is your scent like that?" Kinunao looked at his boss skeptically. "Mei, you know why, don't you?"

"It's not for me to tell," the plum-haired girl said simply.

The blonde's protests were cut off as his twin held a hand in front of him. "Hey, senpai, you know I trust you, and the two of us practically owe you our lives," Kinuyo sent a short glare to her sibling. "I'm willing to trust your judgement, and I'm fine with helping you...but, I just feel like something is off about this."

Meiko sighed before turning to the tall boy. _"You don't have to tell them. I can just-"_

"No!" Riley held a shaky hand up. "I won't tell them...I'll just show them."

The moment the half-ghoul activated his kakugan, reactions were mixed. Moriomi's expression became nearly unreadable, save for his widened eyes. The twins both had slackened jaws and awe-filled eyes.

Kosshi blinked for several seconds before her face seemingly switched between several expressions every other second. Tetsuomi stared for several seconds, before turning around. He then turned back to look, before turning around again, repeating this for a full minute.

Neneko, who had been preoccupied with her ball of yarn, suddenly realized everybody had gone silent. When she turned back to the group, her eyes fell on the tall boy and his active kakugan. The cat-girl immediately darted over to the boy and invaded his personal space for the second time that day.

"Woah! You only got one of those?! That's so trippy," she said, poking at the tall preteen's right eyelid.

Riley jolted slightly at the shorter girl's closeness. "Gaah!"

"Neko! Give him some personal space!" Meiko cried indignantly.

"But his eyes are cool, look at them."

"One eye…" Kinunao could only get those two words out, still shell shocked at the appearance of the boy's single kakugan.

His sister looked up at the silver-haired boy. "So… who was it?"

Riley looked down at the blonde girl puzzledly. "What do you mean?"

"...The human, which one were they?"

"Oh, that was my dad..." he answered, causing the short brunette who had still been poking at his face to jolt.

"Wait, what does that mean? Where's a human?" she looked around in unease.

Meiko quickly put a hand on the cat-girl's shoulder. "No, no, Neko there aren't any doves nearby or anything like that."

The shorter girl visibly relaxed, then looked at Kinuyo and Riley with a petulant expression. "What's with the talk about shitty humans!?"

Riley winced at the last two words. "It's because my dad was human…I'm half human."

"...Oops!" she said, darting away with an embarrassed look and batting at her ball of yarn.

"Wait wait wait!" Kinunao spouted out after a few minutes of silence, waving his hands in front of himself. "If you're part human then-"

"I still have to eat…" the silver haired boy said curtly.

Moriomi shook his head to rid himself of the earlier shock. His eyes trailed back to the half-ghoul, a blanch spreading across his face. "Jesus, so he's just like Et-OOOF!"

He was cut off by Meiko jabbing him in the ribs with her elbow and sending him a dangerous glare. This drew the attention, and confusion, of the half-ghoul in front of them. The moment his eyes turned to them, her death stare disappeared and an uneasy smile appeared on her face, an expression Moriomi mirrored.

"STATUE! The Statue, that's what I was gonna say, that's all, nothing else! *nonchalant whistles*"

Riley noticed his caretaker facepalming next to the dark-haired teen, and his right eyebrow rose in confusion. His suspicions had been highly aroused by the way Moriomi acted, and the fact that he had said 'nonchalant whistles' out loud, instead of actually whistling nonchalantly.

'What was Morio-kun going to say before nee-chan cut him off?'

"Statue?" he questioned the plum-haired girl.

Meiko adjusted her glasses before responding. _"It's a thing… deep in the… ugh! We'll show you one of these days."_

_"And what was he going to say befor-"_

_"Nothing you'd ever need to worry about,"_ She punctuated this with a dangerously sweet smile.

Riley knew that was the cue to drop the question entirely. The half-ghoul looked over to Tetsuomi just as the redhead cleared his throat. The teen looked to the cat-girl for a split second before flashing the tall boy a mischievous grin.

"So, Mei-chan said you needed training, right?"

The half-ghoul looked at the redhead nervously. "Yes, she did say that…"

"Why don't we start now?" Tetsuomi smiled at the boy's confusion. "That way we can figure out what you need to work on."

Meiko's jaw dropped. "Tetsuo, what are you-"

"Ok," the half-ghoul said simply.

The plum-haired girl looked at the boy unsurely. _"Riley, are you sure about this?"_

"Yeah, I'm sure," the half-ghoul swallowed a lump in his throat. "I mean, I won't know what I need help with unless I test myself after all."

Tetsuomi smiled as the girl translated for him "Wonderful! Now then," the redhead turned to Neneko with a wild grin. "Neko-chan, you've got fresh meat!"

The cat-girl froze as her ball of yarn fell back into her hands. Riley felt a shiver running through him as the small brunette turned to him with a cheshire cat grin. He vaguely registered his surrogate sister groaning behind him.

In an instant, the cat-like girl had darted towards him and grabbed him by the shoulder. "Alright punk! I want 25 situps, 25 pushups, and 25 squats right now! No if, ands, or buts!"

"Wait, what?!" the half-ghoul paled when Meiko translated for him. "_Wait, hang on, I thought I'd just have to dodge some attacks or-"_

"After that, you're gonna do 20 laps around this entire room! I don't want any lip either, maggot!"

Riley sweatdropped as the cat-girl dragged him to the center of the chamber. 'This is gonna suck…'

* * *

**Unknown research compound, outskirts of Tokyo**

The mad scientist stood within the lobby of the mansion he owned, eyes narrowed at the brand new front door. "Alright, is everything ready?"

He looked over to his apprentice, finding the boy sweeping up the area around the door as best possible, a trashcan not far away. The teen grunted in annoyance at every small piece of wood he found.

The doctor glowered at the pile of woodchips the boy collected in the dust pan. 'You'd think we'd have gotten rid of all of them, but then another one shows up…'

"Yeah doc, everything should be all good," the teen called out.

The half-ghoul maneuvered his kagune, currently shaped into a mass of skeletal arms, around the room. The horrid limbs held different cleaning implements in hand, dusting away at shelves and mopping away at floors. Eric trashed the current load of dust and grime he had swept up, and after taking a look around, returned any utensils to their proper place and dispelled his bikaku tail.

"I made sure to prepare the combat test chamber, I organized all the necessary documents to bring, started tonight's dinner-"

"I'm pretty sure some of our guests won't have your ability to eat human food Eric."

"Yes, I took that into account. I made sure to get a contact to grab some "choice cuts" from a restaurant," the tall hybrid giggled at his grim innuendo. "I also took the time to cordon off the 'crime scene'. As long as they don't question why that hallway is off-limits, we should be golden."

The doctor sighed as he faced his assistant. "We'll have to tell them about subject 3's escape."

"Yeah I know, I just put up tape there because it's still messy there."

The scientist scrutinized the teen. "You seem visibly anxious about this. Are you alright, Eric?"

Eric's shoulders slumped slightly at this. "It's not what you think doc. I know they're interested in our research and experimental treatments, but…"

"You're worried about your own personal performance?" the doctor offered.

"...Y-Yeah actually! If I look bad I'm gonna be stuck working in a lab, or at some shitty desk job."

The doctor laid a hand on the teen's shoulder, and sent him a reassuring smile. "I'm sure you'll perform admirably Eric!"

The teen beamed at this.

" Plus, I know Kaiko-san is fervently advocating for your membership," the doctor added, a sheepish grin stretching at the corners of his mouth. "So I'm pretty sure you'll probably be let in anyway,"

Their conversation was cut short by the loud ringing of the doorbell. Eric bolted over to the door and, after taking a short breath, proceeded to open it. The tall hybrid looked down to see a man dressed in a formal suit hidden beneath a black duster, the upper portion of his face hidden by a dark, wide-brimmed bob hat. The man tilted his head to look at the half-ghoul, revealing completely white eyes and an amused smirk.

Eric sent a warm smile down at the white-eyed man. "Kaiko-sama, it's good to see you!"

"You as well, Eric," the man took the tall teen's hand in his own, flashing the mad scientist a grin when he noticed him. "Doctor, good to see you! I hope we're not early"

"No, no, you're timing is impeccable, dinner should be ready soon."

The scientist looked behind Kaiko to see six more men in black coats. Kaiko noticed the direction of the doctor's stare, and sent the man and his apprentice a reassuring smile.

"Don't worry about them. You remember I told you not to worry about having to procure dummies for your test, correct?" the white-eyed man smiled when the human and half-ghoul nodded in response. "Well, they'll be transferring the undesirables we brought to…uh, where should we put them?"

Eric gave the white-eyed man an amused hum. "I'll show them to the combat testing chamber Kaiko-sama. They'll be sedated I assume?"

Kaiko gave the teen a nod of confirmation. The half-ghoul and his mentor shifted their gazes as another figure approaching from behind the six agents. The men stepped aside to allow the new individual to pass.

Kaiko's face grew a grimace and he gave the teen and the scientist an unsteady smile. "I hope it isn't an inconvenience but… one of my direct superiors traveled with us. He wanted to make sure they did not make a mistake in investing in this venture."

Kaiko stepped aside as his superior placed himself in front of Eric and his mentor, allowing them to get a better look at their boss. He was a man wavy, dark hair, was just a foot or so shorter than the half-ghoul, and wore a buttoned up long coat. High cheekbones, and a faded goatee were all that could be seen of his face, as he hid much of it behind the domino mask around his kakugan eyes.

The mad scientist and his apprentice stiffened slightly the moment the man's gaze caught them. Eric could feel the ghoul scrutinizing him, and nearly stopped breathing just to prevent himself from shaking. The mad scientist swallowed nervously, having deduced exactly who they were facing.

The man flashed the half-ghoul a kind smirk, and took the teen's hand in his own. "Kaiko has given you blaring recommendations…I can see now he wasn't exaggerating."

A small blush grew on the tall hybrid's face as he dipped his head respectfully. "Ah… thank you sir."

The ghoul smiled at the boy before turning to the doctor and pulling him into a formal handshake. "Doctor Kanou, it's good to see you off hours. I'm looking forward to seeing how your little pet project is going."

The scientist blinked a few times before giving the man a warm but unsteady smile. "Right, of course! It's good to see you as well sir."

The doctor turned to his apprentice, noticing that the teen was already speaking to a pair of agents that Kaiko had brought. The last four agents were hauling several individuals over their backs, all with scuffs and tears all over their clothes.

The mad scientist tilted his head at the tall hybrid. "I assume you'll be ensuring they're properly contained in the testing chamber?"

"Sure thing doc!"

The scientist sent the boy a warm smile before turning to his benefactors, motioning them to follow. "Please, come follow me this way, both of you..."

* * *

"So, you'll have to clue us in on how your experiments work, doctor."

Kanou sat across from his sponsor, silently squirming in his seat as the ghoul smiled at him. On the other side of the table, Kaiko watched the meeting intently. In front of the scientist and the white-eyed man were plates of boiled lobsters, with sides of homemade Sashimi and nigiri-sushi. In front of their boss was what looked like roasted pork, but the doctor knew otherwise.

The scientist looked over to his apprentice as the boy cheerfully cleaned the nearby counter. Not long after they had arrived in the viewing alcove and sat down, the half-ghoul had quickly come in with their food. It had been apparent that the teen had been quick about assisting their sponsor's entourage with the unconscious ghouls.

"Well, the core of how our treatments work is based on Gene Therapy," Kanou stared as the two members of V processed this. "It's an incredibly complicated process, and I think it was only created a few years ago. In order to get any modifications to stick, it takes a lot of repeated treatments."

"Aren't those...patented?"

"Yes, actually..." the doctor smirked as their sponsor let out a short laugh.

"Is that it? Simple, stolen genetic engineering techniques? I think we can manage that."

"Well, no, there's a lot more to it than just stolen techniques," the doctor glanced to the side as he composed his thoughts. "I figured out how to create a lot of different experimental substances to induce the growth and activity of RC cells, which can have a multitude of effects. One stimulates the growth of new RC vessels and pathways, a process which normally only occurs when a ghoul repeatedly regenerates injuries, another I created can improve the 'quality' of RC cells, making them stronger, I made one that improves how fast RC cells function, which would improve a ghoul's regeneration, there are quite a few. The intensity of the results usually scales with how much is given, of course."

The masked man was now hanging on the edge of his seat, listening intently to the scientist's explanation.

The doctor scratched the back of his head sheepishly. "I should note however, that the serums we use are mostly made from illegal compounds and dangerous chemicals.." Kanou glanced away nervously. "Also, several subjects in the past have…expired, either because they couldn't handle the serums and genetic modifications, or due to other factors most likely tied to their physicality."

Their benefactor tilted his head as an amused smile stretched across his face. "Is that so? Well, I'm sure that won't be a problem for us, not too much at least…is that everything doctor?"

The mad scientist sweatdropped. "There is more to it of course. You see in order to test, and improve, the abilities of our test subjects, we…uh…"

While Kanou couldn't quite find the words, his teenage apprentice was there to fill in the blanks for him. "It often involves rather unorthodox medical procedures, usually involving somewhat out of place tools," Eric sent their sponsor a bright smile. "We of course sterilize them, so there's no danger to the patients. After all, Article 13 of the Ghoul Countermeasures act states that you can't hurt them more than necessary."

The man snorted loudly before turning back to the scientist. "And your subjects…are they all hybrids doctor?"

The doctor gave him an unsteady smile

"Ah, no, only subjects 2 and 3 are hybrids. Subject 2 is who we'll be viewing in tonight's test."

"...And what of your other subjects?"

"Subjects 1 and 4-7 are ghouls. 4-7 expired years before we acquired 1-3, and subject 1 expired well over two years ago."

Kaiko cleared his throat to get his host's attention. "Several months ago, during our meeting we were given extensive information on a 'Subject 3'. Has something changed in regards to them?"

While the doctor audibly gulped, Eric's face simply contorted in annoyance. "Unfortunately, Subject 3 escaped several months ago. All the evidence suggests that he has most likely taken refuge in the 24th Ward," the half-ghoul looked to the side with a snarl. "Neither I, nor any of my associates in Pierrot, have been able to locate him…"

Kaiko was visibly annoyed, causing the teen to clench his fists at the thought of being seen as incompetent. Their sponsor simply tilted his head, before letting out a short laugh, causing the doctor and his apprentice to blink in confusion.

The ghoul's chuckles died down as he flashed the two an amused grin. "I'm sure that won't be too troubling. If anything, it'll be more useful to us if he's exposed to outside conditions like that."

A smile spread across the mad scientist's face. "It's nice that you're able to put a positive spin on it, Motojime-sama. I promise, we're doing everything we can to reclaim your lost asset."

Their sponsor waved the aging scientist off. "We have more important things to look for down there, we can afford to be patient in regards to Subject 3."

Kanou flinched as his watch went off, before a grin spread across his face. He quickly motioned to the half-ghoul, to which the teen stood up and moved to a control pad near the wall. Soon enough, a panel slid away to reveal a massive viewing window made of tinted glass.

"Don't worry, I'm not cutting things short just yet," the doctor said cheerfully. "After all, what's dinner without a show, right? It's about time for the demonstration to begin."

Kaiko's mouth formed into a lopsided grin to match the excited smile of his superior as they turned to stare through the glass. Within the sterile room, the ghouls haphazardly thrown inside had already begun to awaken from their torpidity.

Kanou quickly stood up and discreetly grabbed his apprentice by the shoulder. "I have to ask you before we start, Eric…have you taken your medication?"

The teen gave the doctor a serene smile, much to the doctor's relief. "Took care of that earlier doc, no need to worry."

* * *

Sixteen ghouls, all of various sexes and all over the age of 18, found themselves jolted fully awake by the loud crackling of static. The less groggy individuals found themselves in a sterile room white with stone walls, a thick metal ceiling and ceramic floor. To the side of what seemed to be the exit, an intercom and code lock stood. The intercom crackled to life once more, this time accompanied by a voice.

"Hello? Can you guys hear me?"

"Hey, what the hell man?!" one of the ghouls growled at the intercom

"So, I can't actually hear you...weird design flaw to not have a two-way intercom...so I'm just gonna get right to it."

"Dammit!" the ghoul growled out.

Several of the others had activated their kagune and moved into defensive positions, while some were still somewhat groggy. All sixteen of the visibly afraid and anxious ghouls fixed their gazes onto the crackling intercom.

"See, my mentor and I were paid to make hybrid super soldiers. Seems to have worked so far, but we just wanted to be sure…" a dark chuckle sounded from the intercom. "That's why you're in there! Our benefactors want to see if their money was well spent, so we're siccing one of our subjects on you tonight."

The ghouls in the room visibly grimaced at this, their fear easily palpable in the air.

"She'll be giving our boss a good show. If you somehow live through it, you'll get cookies!" there was an awkward pause in the air for a few seconds before the intercom came to life again. "Shit, y-you guys can't eat cookies…ok well if you manage to survive, through some miracle, we'll just see how you push through the treatments we give our subjects."

A sadistic laugh resounded through the intercom. "So I guess it'd be best NOT to survive then, huh? If you've never had 'Ornithorhynchus' venom pumped through your veins, I can tell you now, it's not pleasant…it's fun to watch though, haha!"

At least two ghouls in the testing chamber knew what an 'Ornithorhynchus' was. The horror on their faces became immeasurable.

"Well, time to start! Enjoy your time with Subject 2 ladies and gentlemen!"

The intercom died just as a loud clang echoed through the room. The ghouls turned their heads as a large door at the far end of the chamber slid upwards. The ghouls that had all formed into defensive stances suddenly dropped their guards and blinked in confusion.

Sitting against the wall was a girl in her early to mid teens dressed in prison scrubs. Her silver-white hair fell around her head, her bangs completely hiding her eyes and leaving only the lower features of her heart-shaped face visible. The girl's head snapped upwards when as one of the ghouls let out a strangled gasp. A strand of hair fell to reveal a single sky-blue eye that narrowed at the group in the chamber with her. The girl stood to her full height, and tilted her head towards the one closest to her.

In a split second, she was suddenly not there. The group heard a slashing noise and looked to see that the ghoul nearest to the girl had been completely eviscerated, the shorn bits of his rinkaku tentacle slowly fading away as his body fell to the ground like a lump of meat.

Behind the now dead rinkaku-type, the silver-haired girl whipped her head around to face her newest victims. Her bangs fell from her eyes, revealing the single blue iris in her left eye and the kakugan in her right, both locking onto the ghouls before her an emotionless gaze.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not much to say about this specific edit. Grammar fixes mostly, with some changes to the story.

**"24 Ward" of Tokyo**

**7½ months after the escape**

Riley didn't hate exercise. Not one bit-

"C'mon, work harder! An old lady could do better than you!"

...Riley stopped hating exercise after the first month. For the first two weeks, the half-ghoul put himself through a grueling exercise regime consisting of an ever increasing amount of pushups, situps, squats, and laps around the entire meeting chamber. There were little to no breaks in between, and by the end of the first day the hybrid was pushed to his limits.

Since he would practically pass out almost every time he had come home, Meiko was understanding enough to hold off on improving his Japanese until he was better. Eventually, he had gotten into the swing of it enough that he wouldn't tire out by the end of the day, and around the end of the first month, he had noticed that he had built up a small amount of muscle. It was fairly noticeable, but not enough to take away from his stick-like appearance just yet.

For the half-ghoul, it was an added bonus that his 'personal trainer' could be easily confused, and the tall boy took some small delight in messing with her.

"Nyaan~! You're pathetic! Put your back into it worm!"

"You're actually sitting on my back, Neko-chan…"

The short girl blinked at the half-ghoul as she realized where she was sitting. "Eep! I'm sorry, I should have known I was-Oof!"

The tall boy chuckled at the girl's unceremonious squeak as she fell off him. He let out a snort as the girl sent him a stern glare, which he couldn't take seriously due to her facial features.

"I didn't say stop, baka!" the girl growled petulantly.

"Hai, Neko-chan!"

"That's Neko-sensei to you!" the cat girl yelled. "Now...wait, how many were you on again?"

The half-ghoul froze as his expression fell comically. "I...I lost track…"

"You were at 46!" Kinuyo called out from the sidelines. "Just four more and you're good!"

"Phew!"

"NOT SO FAST!"

'Why?' the silver-haired boy thought dejectedly.

The short brunette folded her arms and let out a short grunt. "Finish your pushups baka, then we go straight to running!"

"Nooo…"

"I want you to run around this entire chamber 25 times, no stopping! You understand maggot?!"

"But my legs still hurt from the 50 squats!"

"What was that!?" the brunette was suddenly dangerously close the boy's face, causing him to stiffen at the invasion of his personal space. "That'll be 30 laps then! I'll teach you not to give me any lip!"

"H-Hai, Neko-sensei!"

The boy immediately shifted to running laps after finishing his pushups. His trainer kept pace beside him, 'motivating' him the entire way..

"Put more work into it! A goldfish could run faster than you!"

"Goldfish don't have legs."

"Yeah, but I'm using them as an example anyway!"

As the half-ghoul got near the end of his first lap, he spotted Kentetsu nearby doing his own set of exercises. Riley sent the other boy a small smile and gave him a short wave.

"Hey Kenta-san!"

A short but nonchalant grunt was the only response he got.

"Don't stop to socialize! The damn birds aren't gonna stop trying to stab you to death for a nice chat!"

The half-ghoul and quiet boy paled before moving through their exercises faster. On the sidelines, Kinuyo looked on at the two in concern. The blonde glanced to her side as her brother walked over, a small bag in hand.

"What do you think? I got us some finger food," Kinunao opened the bag to reveal dozens of severed fingers. "Get it? Finger food? C-Cause they're fingers...is everything alright?"

"You think she's being too hard on them?"

Kinunao tilted his head towards the preteens and shrugged. "They seem alright now...maybe she could pull back just a tiny bit-"

"Nah, I think they're alright."

The two blondes looked over to see Kosshi approaching them, watching the two preteens with an amused grin. The tall brunette stood next to the male twin and gave him a sardonic chuckle.

"You know how it is. In order to walk, ya gotta learn to crawl," the tall girl noticed the bag of fingers in the boy's hand and leaned towards him. "Hey, can I-"

"No! Get your own!"

"Aww come on! Just a few?" Kosshi's expression of mock sadness morphed into a sheepish grin as Kinunao glared at her. "Alright, cool your shit shorty, I'll stop...so, where is boss lady anyway?"

"Meiko is with Tetsuo and Morio, they're talking about something Morio needed help with," a strained grimace spread across the blonde's face. "I think they're also trying to figure out how to deal with our 'crustacean' problem…"

* * *

"So that's the situation with my friend in the 13th. If I want to keep my promise, I need to go and bring them down to the tunnels for safety."

Meiko nodded calmly as Moriomi explained his predicament. Behind her, Tetsuomi leaned against the wall while cupping a hand to his chin in thought, only occasionally giving input during the meeting.

Moriomi's home was not too far from the group's personal meeting chamber, a small cave with only a simple wooden door blocking the entrance. Haphazardly placed on the stone floor was an old carpet, and towards the far left was his bed, just a few feet away from his own personal meat stores. Currently, the plum-haired girl sat at the table on the right side of the room, just across from the raven-haired boy.

Meiko gave the downcast teen a weak smile. "Hey, relax. I'll see if I can't find anybody who wants to help."

"I'll come with."

The two looked over to the redhead leaning against the stone wall. He pushed himself off and sat next to the plum-haired girl, sending a friendly grin to his other friend.

"I can't let you deal with this yourself. If the doves really are making waves through that place, you'll need all the help you can get."

Moriomi looked at his friend in brief shock, before his mouth formed into a soft smile. "Thanks Tetsuo, you have no idea how much this means to-"

"Dude, don't get all flowery. If I didn't help you out with this and your childhood friend ended up dying, you'd be all mopey for years. Nobody wants that," a grim look spread across the redhead's face, and his fists clenched. "Now, I think we need to talk about a potential problem that's come up…"

The other two leaned forward in their seats.

"King Crab…he was spotted near our turf in the past month."

A cold expression crossed Meiko's face as her kakugan activated. "We'll deal with it, just like always. If we play our cards right, we can avoid conflict entirely."

"Bullshit!" Tetsuomi cried out, flinching at the concerned expressions they gave him. "He's a full kakuja, which is supposed to be ridiculously huge by the way, and...he enjoys it," the redhead frowned at their confused looks. "The taste of other ghouls! Down here, you get used to it and all, it's just something you deal with...King Crab, he actually likes the taste of other ghouls, he enjoys cannibalizing. It's pretty fucked up, alright."

Moriomi slunk in his seat and rubbed his temples. "While I was in the 12th ward getting information, I saw the news...the doves, they declared King Crab SSS-Rate," the dark-haired teen looked to his boss. "He took on dozens of Junior investigators, killed a bunch of First Class investigators...hell, I think he ripped a pair of Associate Special Class to shreds."

Meiko's face became shadowed by her bangs and her mouth formed into a thin line. "Like I said, we can just deal with it. We're strong enough to handle him all at once, as long as nobody pulls anything stupid…" the plum-haired girl quickly adjusted her glasses with a short sigh. "So, I guess I should have asked about this earlier, but the two of you had more important issues to bring up...would you guys be ok with coming to the 11th ward with me tomorrow?"

Tetsuomi blinked owlishly next to her. "What's in the 11th ward?"

"You remember how Riley trusted you two with his life story?"

Both the redhead and the ravenette turned green, horrified grimaces appearing on their faces.

"Jesus Mei, you trying to make us puke again?! Seriously, how is that poor kid still sane?"

"He isn't," she stated flatly. "I mean, I've lost count of how many I've had to calm him down after he wakes up in the middle of the night from a nightmare, and he's still so jumpy about strange noises," the bespectacled girl let out a tired huff. "Plus, something is definitely wrong with him. There was this point where he was getting confused out of nowhere, or he just wasn't motivated to do things...plus, he hallucinates. It hasn't been anything serious from what I've gotten out of him, but that's still concerning."

"Yeah, definitely a red flag there…there's probably some way to help him with that," Moriomi looked at the girl questioningly. "So why check the 11th ward?"

"That's where his family used to live before… y'know," the plum-haired girl looked to her side nervously. "I figured if we went to his old house, we could see if his mom hid anything away that he could have as keepsakes."

The raven-haired teen's expression turned solemn. "What if there isn't anything there?"

"...Then he'll have that closure I guess."

Tetsuomi closed his eyes, sighing in exasperation. "Let's just cut all this depressing shit out guys! Wanna go check on them? They're supposed to be training," the redhead looked over to Moriomi. "You've got something to teach Riley right?"

A smug grin appeared on the ravenette's face as he turned his eyes to Meiko. "I'm sure you and your 'little brother' will enjoy my lessons Mei-chan."

The plum-haired girl glared at the older teen in annoyance and stood up stiffly. "Lets just go check on them…then we can get your _lessons_ over with."

Moriomi snorted as he stood up and followed the girl. "Relax, Mei! It won't be that bad…"

* * *

"So, speaking of half-ghouls…I ran into Noroi the other day."

Tetsuomi and Moriomi grimaced as they turned to look at the girl walking behind them. The ghoulette increased her pace, ignoring the nervous expressions of the other two.

"When you say you ran into Noroi…how did it go this time?"

"Basically the same as always. I asked how she was, if I could talk to her, the like. Got the same responses as last time, death threats and all that. Then…" a sheepish grin spread across Meiko's face as she held her right arm up stiffly. "It took a few days for this to grow back. That's why I had Neko and Kinuyo making sure Riley was alright."

Moriomi's face fell at this. "Guy could be less of an asshole about it, couldn't he? I mean, I get why he's all uppity about it, but still..."

"Hey, why don't you wanna tell Riley about Eto anyway?" Testuomi asked.

A frown spread across the plum-haired girl's face. "Well, aside from the one exception, he...hasn't had the best experience with other one-eyes."

"As much as I'm willing to agree about how much of an understatement that is, that's only _one_ living half-ghoul he's met."

"Yeah, I get that it isn't a good thing to just assume, but still," annoyance crept onto the girl's face. "Am I just supposed to say 'Hey, otouto, there's actually another one-eye down here maybe a year younger than you, but she lives with this guy who barely takes care of her and because of all the stuff she's dealt with, she hates everything and everyone and will probably try to kill you,' and leave it at that?" the plum-haired girl snorted. "Yeah, that'd go down just perfectly, wouldn't it?"

A small smirk grew on Moriomi's face. "Hey, who knows? He might meet her and…well…"

"Well what?" the plum-haired girl darted in front of him and sent a glare his way.

"I was gonna say, he's close to that age, and despite his…past experiences with one perverted witch…"

"Oh wow, I didn't know that was your fetish man!"

"Shut it Tetsuo!" the dark-haired boy growled.

"Who knows, the kid's been living here for a while, right? He's probably already got the 'fever' developing."

"Okay, seriously gross!" Meiko said flatly. "Plus, she's more likely to kill him anyway, probably just because he exists. Remember what she did to Kosshi?"

The two male ghouls blanched as they remembered their friend's state after she had fought the small half-ghoul. It was still a sore spot for the tall girl, one that they knew not to push if they wanted to remain unscathed.

"I think the issue there was the fact that she should make it a habit _not_ to insult short people for being short," the redhead said exasperatedly. "It seems to be a hot button she always pushes."

"Yet despite the fact that it almost got her killed, she continues it to this day…"

When the three arrived to the chamber their group used, they were greeted by the sight of both Riley and Kentetsu running laps. While the half-ghoul looked slightly out of breath, he was still a ways ahead of the mute boy, courtesy of his large strides.

"Huh, it's kind of surprising that he can move so fast at his height," Tetsuomi said.

Meiko grimaced at this. "Yeah, I'm kinda worried about whats gonna happen when he grows more…" she turned to the other two. "Y'know, square cube law and whatnot."

Moriomi rubbed his chin in thought. "How tall is he now?"

"He's...around 6'2, 6'3, somewhere in between. I'm kinda worried he might hit a growth spurt or something," the bespectacled girl furrowed her brows in thought. "Hopefully he doesn't get anywhere close to 7 feet anytime soon. I really don't wanna have any problems."

"...Might have something to do with him being half, maybe?" the raven-haired teen tilted his head thoughtfully. "Plus, since what happened to him caused his healing to kick in too early, his body probably pre-adapted to it. It might not cause too much problems for him...or it's causing even more...who knows?"

Meiko shrunk a bit regardless. "Yeah, but still its not like we shouldn't worry about that-"

"Put your legs into maggots! If you drop I'll make you crawl the rest of the way!"

Their conversation was cut short by the training session. They looked over to see Neneko running beside the tall hybrid and quiet boy. The cat-girl sent both of them a serious glare that barely looked intimidating on her cute features.

"C'mon move it! What the hell are you?"

"A human/ghoul hybrid?"

"Ooooh yeah that's true!"

The three held back laughter as the small girl's hardened look shifted back to her goofy smile and absent-minded stare. The cat-girl kept pace with the boys for a few seconds with a slightly confused expression before her attention was pulled back to reality.

"Oi, Neko!" the three ghouls looked over to the side, seeing Kosshi cupping her hands around her mouth. "You're supposed to make them say they're the lowest of the low, lower than dirt!"

"Oooh yeah!...YOU'RE THE LOWEST OF THE LOW, LOWER THAN DIRT!"

"But…we all live underground."

The short brunette looked at the half-ghoul in confusion.

"That means we're all lower than dirt Neko-chan," he clarified.

"...SHIT YOU RIGHT!"

Meiko shook her head, smiling at the scene before her. The three walked over to Kosshi and the twins. Kinunao gave a short wave, unable to verbally acknowledge them due to the fact he was eating a bunch of severed fingers.

"So, how many laps are they on?" the plum-haired girl asked.

Kinuyo glanced at her from the corner of her eye. "Riley has 2 left to finish out of 30. Kenta is just a few behind, but he has less to do anyway."

"...Thirty? I thought it was twenty-five, y'know, for moderation."

"He complained about being tired from the squats, so Neko added 5 more laps…"

"Ah, guess she'd take exception to that…"

The teens watched as the half-ghoul finished his final lap, slowly walking up to them. Meiko could tell he was somewhat out of breath, but he didn't look too worse for wear.

"I'm done *pant* finally *pant* I just wanna rest…"

"Not yet kiddo! I've got something to show you."

Riley looked up at Moriomi, a pained expression spreading across his face. The plum-haired girl stifled a giggle at the boy's comical whine of distress.

Moriomi flashed the preteen a smile. "Alright buddy, bring out your kagune."

The ravenette looked over to Meiko, and she felt dread overtaking her. 'Noooo… please don't tell me to-'

"You too Meiko, asap please."

The plum-haired girl sighed in annoyance as she adjusted her glasses. In a few split seconds, eight red-violet appendages erupted from her lower back like unfurling butterfly wings, before settling into long tentacles that waved behind her like a torpid octopus.

'They look so...pretty,' the half-ghoul thought for lack of a better term.

The preteen nervously swallowed a lump in his throat before willing his bikaku forth. The rest of the group stood back as his monstrous crocodilian tail emerged from him in an explosive cloud of RC cells, twisting around dozens of feet above their heads before slowly falling towards the ground. The reptilian limb coiled in front of the boy, twitching around like a cats as the preteen stood there awkwardly.

"Holy fucking shit! That thing must take up half the room!" Tetsuomi cried out.

The tall boy furrowed his brows in confusion before the translation was given. "I didn't know it wasn't normal."

_"Relax, nobody's mad,"_ the plum-haired girl said reassuringly.

The half-ghoul nodded before inspecting his kagune, making a small double take as he saw it shift. The boy quickly looked away and pretended that it didn't darken in color for a split second, and that he didn't see the knobs and spikes that seemed to ripple across his tail.

Moriomi clapped his hands and sent the two a cheerful grin. "Alright, today we're gonna learn an important skill. I'm gonna teach you how to shape your kagune!"

Riley tilted his head in confusion as his surrogate sister translated. "What do you mean shape it?"

"Observe!"

A bright red flash erupted from below the raven-haired teen's shoulders as six thick rinkaku-like tentacles the color of dried blood unfurled. Moriomi smirked as he curled his koukaku kagune around his shoulders.

"Alright, now watch this, and then I'll coach you on how to do something similar."

Two of the koukaku tentacles coiled around the teen's arms, completely surrounding them. Five taloned fingers appeared at the end, making it seem as though the dark-haired boy had monstrous arms. The remaining four tentacles completely encased his head, before extending outward and forming a long tendril around his head.

Riley's gaze followed the length of the tentacle just as a bulbous shape formed on the tip. As four extra tendrils extended from it, and several depressions formed across the limb, the half-ghoul could have sworn the bulb at the end looked like a head. The tall boy's suspicions were confirmed as the pointed chin and skeletal nose finished forming, accompanied by wide kakugan eyes staring down at him, and a long tongue lolling out between a toothy smile.

**"BLEAUGHH!"**

"Gaah!"

Riley jumped back a few feet, shrinking in disgust as the kagune head reared back, the neck coiling like a snake. The neck rippled visibly as Moriomi's laughter echoed from the wide kagune mouth.

Meiko's hand quickly met her own face. "Really Morio? You had to do that one?"

**"Would you chill out. This is the coolest hehe!"** the kagune uncoiled as the monstrous head darted towards the boy, wide grin filling his vision. **"This is what I was talking about bud! It takes a lot of creativity to do this, but it's really useful!"**

"That's… weird!" the hybrid said nervously.

His surrogate sister just shook her head. _"That's just the most extreme example, you don't have to go overboard like him…here let me show you!"_

The plum-haired girl furrowed her brows in concentration. Her rinkaku tentacles rippled for several seconds and curled inward, before several seemed to meld together. Several tentacles transformed into large clawed hands, while a remaining pair coiled around the girl's arm and morphed into a koukaku-like blade. After the girl had finished shaping her kagune, she wobbled in place for a bit before nearly falling.

Riley quickly moved to catch the girl, allowing her to lean on his shoulder. _"I thought you said you were bad at that…"_

"I am, it takes me a while to do it, and I have trouble keeping it up..."

**"That's why you train with it, duh!"** the two caught Moriomi looking down at them with a smug grin on his kagune head.

"So…you want me to try doing that?" the half-ghoul asked unsurely.

**"No, I want you to try something similar. If you tried this with your tail it'd look awkward."**

"...Oh, ok then."

**"Just try anything. Make a hand, add a mouth. It all depends on your imagination, got it?"**

The hybrid narrowed his eyes at his kagune in thought. The preteen closed his eyes as his tail slowly ascended into the air, the tip angled just a few feet away from his face. The tall boy shuddered as his kagune rippled, a sudden feeling of wrongness spreading through him as his vision shifted to the group as a whole. It was only a few seconds after this that he realized his eyes were still closed.

When Riley opened them, he found that he somehow had double vision from two different perspectives. The preteen maneuvered his kagune closer to himself to get a better look, and froze at what he saw. A single kakugan eye stared back at him blankly, and when the half-ghoul turned his tail, he saw a second eye on the other side perpendicular to the other.

The moment the eyes blinked, the tall boy went pale and let out a startled cry. _"Agh! They blinked! I blinked! I could feel them blinking! Why could I feel them blinking?!" the half-ghoul waved his arms around threateningly at his own kagune. "Why does it have eyes!"_

Meiko sweatdropped at the boy's confusion. _"Hey, relax! They're made from your kagune, nothing's wrong."_

_"I can feel them moving and blinking!"_

_"That's kinda what eyes are supposed to do…"_ the plum-haired girl deadpanned. _"They're not gonna hurt you, just calm down."_

_"Why would I need eyes on it anyway?"_

_"I...I guess it'd be useful for spying on others…"_ the ghoulette cupped a hand to her chin in thought. "Although, you'd need to put ears on them too...no idea how that would work…"

**"So, I heard english words, but-"** Moriomi remained silent as the girl gave him the gist of their conversation before turning back to the boy. **"Don't sweat it kid, you'll get the hang of those. Any crazy issues with your vision will clear up eventually…"** a toothy grin stretched across the dark-haired teen's kagune head. **"You did that in under a minute too, that's a lot better than your 'nee-san' ever did."**

The plum-haired girl rounded on the boy. "Morio, I swear!"

As his surrogate sister began to argue with the monster-headed teen, Riley looked at his kagune contemplatively. While the half-ghoul was unsettled by the sensation of his extra eyes blinking, he couldn't help but stare.

'They look creepy...but that's also pretty cool…' a small smirk tugged at the corners of his mouth as an idea struck him.

The half-ghoul closed his eyes and furrowed his brows in concentration, causing ripples to appear on his crocodilian tail. Kinuyo spotted the boy from the corner of her eye and blanched when she realized what was going to happen.

"Umm, Meiko! Riley-"

"Not now Kinuyo! I'm trying to give this idiot a piece of my mind!"

**"Would you chill? I get that it's a sore spot for you-"**

"Meiko, could you please listen to me?!" the blonde girl cried out.

"Kinuyo, what is-SHIT!" the bespectacled girl paled when she caught sight of her surrogate brother. **"Riley, wait! Don't try to-"**

There was a flash of red light as the half-ghoul's kagune sprouted thousands of kakugan eyes. The eyes soon rolled back before the preteen's kagune dissipated completely. The tall boy then fell back, eyes glazed over, fingers twitching, and trails of drool trailing from his mouth.

"Ah shit!" Kinuyo growled, motioning for Neneko to follow her as she moved to check on the hybrid.

Meiko's face became shrouded in shadows as she faced Moriomi. "Way to go asshole, now he's unconscious! This is your fault!"

**"My fault!? How the hell was I supposed to know he'd do that!?"**

"That should have been the first thing you warned him about! You should have told him to do stuff like this in moderation!"

Tetsuomi shrunk a bit as the two argued in between themselves, before walking over to the unconscious boy. The rest of the group quickly joined, visibly confused at the half-ghoul's state.

Kinunao tapped his twin on the shoulder. "Hey, the hell happened to him?"

"He made a bunch of eyes on his tail. Since he hasn't trained with it, the strain on him was too much.

Kosshi scratched the back of her neck nervously. "He…he'll be ok, right?"

"Hmm? Oh, yeah he'll wake up in a few hours with a huge migraine, and we'll all probably have to tell him not to try that again without supervision…"

The group looked back to their leader as she finished a string of curses towards the monster-headed teen. They all sweatdropped as the girl jumped onto Moriomi's back and attempted to rip through his kagune with her bare hands.

Tetsuomi let out a sigh before standing up. "I should probably break that up before it gets out of hand."

* * *

**Nerima Ward, Tokyo**

Eric looked at himself in the window of a nearby store. The teen looked over his fancy suit and new black trenchcoat. The boy frowned slightly as he adjusted his bob hat into a better position over his messy, dark hair. A wry smile spread across his face as he ran a hand over his facial features.

"I can't believe I hid this gorgeous face behind a mask…" the teen said, a mischievous glint flashing through his blue eyes.

"Do you really have to check your appearance so much?"

The half-ghoul flinched before looking at his new mentor. "Right, sorry Kaiko-sama! I just...wanted to look presentable, y'know?" the giant shrugged nervously. "I mean, I am representing our organization after all."

The white-eyed man shook his head with an exasperated chuckle. "You really don't need to worry about that thing. I mean, we're mostly secretive anyway, but you're wearing a two piece suit," Kaiko motioned to the boy with an ever widening grin. "I think you're presentable enough."

Eric smiled as any apprehension left his expression. "Right, you're right. Thanks a lot, Sensei…" the half-ghoul nodded as the man motioned for him to follow. "So, why are we in the 20th ward anyway, sir?"

"Hmm? Oh, yes that's right, I didn't tell you yet did I?" when the hybrid shook his head, Kaiko chuckled darkly. "The 20th ward is the most rural of the special wards…all these big buildings and shops weren't here a while ago, and I think there's still a farm or two somewhere around her, but I digress," the white-eyed man took a deep breath. "Our organization, as well as the CCG, had hoped that with the formation of the special wards the area that became the 20th would be safer...wistful thinking on all our parts, unfortunately."

"Oooh...how bad is it?"

"At the moment, the 20th is no different than say, the 13th or the 6th ward," Kaiko snorted hotly. "There are two dangerous gangs that call the ward home; the Ape Faces and the Black Dobers. Their leaders, Black Dog and Devil Ape, are constantly vying for control of the ward, causing bloody conflict throughout."

"That's it? Just a few gangs destroying stuff?"

"There's more! There are reports of ghouls attacking large crowded areas, kakujas rampaging in the middle of the day…" the white-haired man shook his head in bewilderment. "It's just ridiculous. We were worried that things would get worse.

Eric's expression became unreadable as he faced forward. "So we're going to investigate the two gangs, then supplement the CCG with information through our guises as main branch special investigators?"

"No, not quite Eric. You see, we're checking up on a former member of V who has moved to the 20th. Apparently, through prior investigation by my subordinates, he has plans to take over the ward."

"Oh, I see...and since he's had prior training from our group, we should be wary of fighting him?"

"AHAHAHAHAA! Oh, heavens no, we're not against him taking over the ward. Kuzen's an old friend, and a damn pacifist, if anything it'll be better if he leads it. That's why our superiors sent us to tell him of their support…" Kaiko's face twisted into a mask of anger as a strangled gag escaped from his throat. "As well as to, once again, ask him to rectify his betrayal to the organization…"

"...Kay Imma need some context Kaiko-sama."

The white-eyed man huffed in annoyance. "Quite some time ago, while he was still in our employ, he met a nice young woman he eventually proposed to…" Kaiko's mouth twisted into a smug grin. "The only reason we knew about this was because we found out she was investigating the 'truth' behind our organization."

The half-ghoul cocked an eyebrow at this. "How much did she know?"

"Aside from some rather…shady things, she knew just the bare minimum, that we're oppressing an entire species, and we work behind the shadows to keep the 'balance', so to speak."

"...So she basically knew nothing except that we're the literal illuminati."

"Exactly, that's all she knew, so really nothing had to be done at all, just notify Kuzen, tell him to get her to stop… but our superiors thought up a great way to test his loyalty, regardless of whether he was retired or not."

Realization dawned on Eric's face, and he let out a dark chuckle. "Did he pass?"

"Yes and no. He went through with the test, and 'passed' with flying colors."

"So, I guess I won't be introduced to his wife when we get there, huh?"

"No, we did the 'test' before they could go through with that."

"If that's the case, how is he still a traitor?"

Kaiko's face once again became a mask of hate and disgust. "Because he and that woman produced something, something that could have been useful to us and our superiors. We only found out about it after the test and when we did, we demanded that he hand it over," the white-eyed man began seething with unbridled fury, causing the half-ghoul to nervously step away. "Kuzen most likely hid it in the tunnels, and he's refused to give it up, he even constantly denies its existence. We searched for years, but we haven't ever had any luck with it…"

"So you've been told to ask him about it for over a decade, huh? How did our bosses react to his answers?"

A bitter look grew on the white-eyed man's face. "Since our bosses wanted to use it for the good of the organization, they didn't take it well. During the first few years of the search, they may have taken aggressive action towards any 'failure' to find any information on it. They were considering taking direct action against Kuzen, but they figured that would look bad for the organization as a whole," the man put a finger to his chin in thought. "If anything, since a decade passed, they're only interested in using it for research, and then disposing of it…hehe…"

Eric looked over to his superior in concern. "Is something wrong Kaiko-sama?"

"No no, it's just…I realized, they might just decide to give it to the doctor, perhaps he could make some use out of it."

Eric grimaced at his mentor's cryptical behavior. "I'm still a bit confused, sensei."

"Don't worry about it Eric, I'll clear it up inside."

"...Inside?"

"Well, we are here after all."

The teen hybrid blinked in confusion before looking around. Before them stood a medium sized low-rise building, a quaint 3 floor café with a pleasant exterior. On the side of the ground entrance, Eric could see a sign that read 'Anteiku', a CLOSED sign adjacent to it.

"So, that's it huh?"

Kaiko nodded, an excited grin spreading across his face. "Well, lets go Eric. Lets try and see if he'll be helpful this time around."

* * *

Eric grimaced as he ducked down to avoid hitting his head on the doorframe, sighing in relief when he realized the ceiling was high enough for him to stand to his full height instead of hunching over. When the half-ghoul looked around at the apparent ghoul den, he was pleasantly surprised to find a genuinely quaint and homely cafe. Though the shop was empty, there were more than a few tables for customers. At the back of the room was a counter, with several shelves lined with an assortment of coffee beans behind it. To the left of the counter was a door that most likely led to the back kitchen, or the upstairs rooms, or maybe even both.

Behind the counter was what seemed to be the only waiter on staff, a man currently too busy cleaning dishes to have really noticed they had walked in. He was a man in his early or mid 40s donning a formal uniform, and he was maybe a foot shorter than the half-ghoul himself. His swept back dark-green hair had a few grey streaks running through it, and despite the fact that his eyes were closed, he worked as though he could see perfectly.

Eric furrowed his brows in confusion as he scrutinized the man. 'Is there some damn ancient asian secret to doing things with your eyes closed or something?'

The man noticed them from the corner of his eye and turned to them. "My apologies, but I'm afraid we're…" the green-haired man frowned when he saw the white-eyed V agent sporting a lopsided grin. "Closed…"

"Goodness, age hasn't been very kind to you has it, _old friend_?" Kaiko's eyes darted up and down the man's form as he took a deep breath through his nose. "It certainly hasn't made you any less handsome though...is that cologne you're wearing?"

"What do you want Kaiko?"

"What's wrong, can't I just visit my old friend and have the two of us catch up?" Kaiko's smirk grew wider at his old friend's hateful gaze. "Fine, fine, you win Kuzen! I'm here because we found out about your intentions to take over the ward."

"And you're here to dissuade me from that, I assume?"

"Oh, of course not, _old friend_! In fact, my superiors are happy to verbally support your endeavor, as long as your plans involve pacifying the ward…"

Kuzen put the newly cleaned dish down and moved to the next one. "Well, you can assure your mysterious superiors that the 20th ward is in good hands. I'll make sure all outward incidents of predation, as well as any conflicts with investigators, cease completely." he turned to them, opening his eyes to give them a restrained glare with his kakugan. "If that's everything, I'll have to ask you to leave Kaiko. If you're interested in ordering, I'm afraid I'll be unable to take it as we're closed."

Kaiko flashed him a toothy grin as anger flashed through his eyes. "I do have an order for you, _old friend_," the white-eyed man closed the distance between himself and the middle-aged ghoul, slamming his hands onto the counter. "Where is he Kuzen? Give us his location, now!"

"Like I said, I'll be unable to process any orders right now, as we are closed," Kuzen nonchalantly moved to the next dish while ignoring his old friend's demands. "Besides, I have no idea what you are referring to, Kaiko. You're being quite confusing, you know that right?"

"Don't play dumb with me Kuzen! You know damn well what I'm talking about!" Kaiko leaned forward until his face was just an inch away from his former comrade's. "Your son Kuzen, the child you had with Ukina...the one-eyed ghoul! Your continuous refusal to relinquish him to us is a betrayal to our organization."

Eric had to stop himself from gasping when the words 'one-eyed ghoul' left his sensei's mouth. The teen grit his teeth to the point they might have shattered, and his clenched hard enough to nearly draw blood.

Kuzen simply paid no mind to the man who was nearly invading his personal space. "I have no idea what you're talking about Kaiko. My fiancé died long ago," the middle-aged ghoul sent his former friend a spiteful look. "All I have left of her are my memories...and my regrets…"

Kaiko took a deep, angry breath at the word 'fiancé', narrowing his eyes as the man finished his piece. "You know we're not really interested in turning them into an agent anymore. He's what, 10 years old now, right?" the white-eyed man leaned away from the middle-aged ghoul's face and sent him a sardonic smile. "The window of opportunity is definitely gone now, I'm sure. We were just gonna use him for research, and when we're done I'll make sure to finish the brat off quickly, you know...as a personal favor to you, _old friend_."

Kuzen frowned deeply at his former comrade. "I've told you many times Kaiko, and I'll tell you once again; I have no son," the man turned away from the white-eyed man and continued cleaning the dishes for his shop. "Now, if that is all you wanted, kindly leave."

Kaiko nearly lost his composure then and there, his face twisting into a snarl and his teeth clenching hard enough that they nearly cracked. His hand went to one of his knives as he prepared to give his old friend a piece of his mind, when a hand stopped him.

Eric's large arm held the white-eyed man back, the teen sending him a disappointed expression as he shook his head. The half-ghoul quickly mouthed the words 'let me handle it' before turning to face Kuzen.

Kaiko shook in pure rage. 'Who the fuck does this brat think he is!? I could have him written up for insubordination!'

Eric ignored the venomous gaze of his partner and cleared his throat. "Excuse me, jiji! I was hoping to talk to you."

The green haired ghoul looked at the teen in confusion. "You're Kaiko's new partner, aren't you?"

"That I am!" the tall hybrid smirked as the green-haired man scrutinized him. "Yeah, yeah, I get it! I look funky because I'm white."

"N-No, I assure you that's not the issue. If anything, you're rather tall for your age," Kuzen frowned at the teen. "I can tell you're new to the organization. You should leave now, if you have any compassion left in you."

"Welp, too late for that old man!" Eric let out a loud snort before giving the middle-aged ghoul a sardonic grin. "I don't have any of that left. Plus, I wanted to join, so there's that."

"I see…"

"So, you wouldn't mind telling us where your brat is, would you?"

"Like I told Kaiko, we are currently closed," the green-haired man stared blankly at the boy as he grabbed a stack of dishes. "Besides, I've said it before, I do not have a son."

"Right, right, you don't have a son, so there's no use asking," the teen leered at Kuzen menacingly. "So, mind telling us where your daughter is?"

***CRASH***

Kaiko blinked in confusion as the dishes fell to the floor. The middle-aged ghoul quickly dropped to the ground to try and salvage them, shakily grabbing the broken pieces with clammy hands. The man looked up at the teen with a horrified expression.

"H-How did y-you know?"

Eric leaned down with a wide grin. "You just told me, actually."

As Kuzen began hyperventilating, Kaiko mulled over what he had just witnessed. The words 'I have no son' rang through his head, then his mouth cracked into a vicious, toothy smile as he realized what he had just heard.

'So that's what we were missing…' a mad giggle escaped the white-eyed man's throat. 'Looks like we have you now, old fool.'

"You see, the thing about me Jiji, is that I like to think outside of the box," the tall boy mimed a box structure with his hands. "No offense to Kaiko-sama of course, I mean he's the type of person to take things at face value. When he hears you say 'I have no son', he takes it as you not having a kid at all," a low chuckle escaped Eric's mouth. "Of course, my mind thought of something that _might_ be a possibility, and I decided to take a wild guess...now then, **why don't you start talking…"**

When Yoshimura Kuzen looked up at the teen, he realized he was looking at a_ monster_.

The thing in front of him, in his eyes, no longer looked anything like a human. Something writhed beneath its now thin skin, it's mouth had twisted into a sadistic grin that stretched all the way to its ears, and the former V agent swore he could see fangs poking out from its gums. Its eyes had to be the worst part about it, the deep and horrible gaze lacking anything resembling love or compassion. It was as though the _thing_ stopped trying to be human long ago, playing pretend as some sort of twisted game it liked to play.

**"Well Jiji, where's your little girl? I can wait all day~"**

The middle aged man shrunk back in terror. The thing's voice was like thousands of horrible, inhuman mouths shouting raspily at him. Kuzen felt all the color drain from him, his hands shaking violently as his mind desperately told him to flee from this monster.

Kaiko flinched back at the gaze the teen directed towards the middle-aged ghoul. The white-eyed man knew exactly what _that_ specific look was, having seen it months prior when the half-ghoul fought his own sister into submission.

Kuzen stood to his feet shakily, closing his eyes to keep himself from looking in the monster's direction. As he took a deep, calming breath, the memories of his loved ones flowed through his mind. The green-haired man opened his eyes, giving the monster a hardened glare with his kakugan as a newfound resolve coursed through him.

"You will never find her…"

Kaiko felt newfound rage welling up inside of him. "Kuzen, don't be too hasty-"

"You and the rest of the organization can search all you want. Search until the end of time if you wish, you will never get anything from me."

"Dammit Kuzen, you listen to-"

"I'll die before I let you have her, and I most likely will. The only half-ghoul in existence, and she will be forever out of your reach."

"AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

Kuzen backed away anxiously when the teen started laughing in his face. Kaiko, having been slightly startled by it as well, jolted back in shock. The white-eyed man blinked at the boy for several seconds, before a smirk wormed its way across his face as he realized why the teen was busting his guts out.

The green-haired ghoul cleared his throat. "What on earth are you laughing about?!"

"Oh, nothing Jiji, it's just...it was kind of funny, that last thing you said," Eric stood up, wiping any remaining tears away as he gave the man a lopsided, toothy grin. "Nah, it's nothing you need to worry about jiji…Kaiko-sama?"

The white-eyed man laid a hand on the tall boy's shoulder and flashed his old friend a bright smile. "Yes, we'll need to get going. We have a report to make, after all," Kaiko waved to the middle-aged ghoul mockingly as they began to walk towards the exit. "Bye bye Kuzen, thank you _so much_ for this new lead. It was so very nice to see you again, _old friend_."

Kuzen shuddered as their laughter echoed throughout the shop, even after they had left. The middle-aged ghoul clenched his fists and looked at the ceiling as tears welled up at the corners of his eyes.

"I knew I shouldn't have left her down there...I could have figured out a way…" the green-haired man wiped the tears from his eyes with a sigh. "Noroi...I have to find a way to contact Noroi…"

* * *

"Well then, I'm glad I'll finally have something new to report to our superiors. Maybe we'll make a bit more headway in the search now," Kaiko's smirk fell when he felt the animosity directed towards him. "Is there something wrong, Eric?"

"...Why didn't you tell me that the "thing" they produced, was a one-eyed ghoul?"

Kaiko sighed as a grimace spread across his face. "I didn't say anything because I know you have a low opinion of other one-eyed ghouls-"

"Correction Kaiko, I have a low opinion of all one-eyed ghouls, _myself included_."

Kaiko cringed at the teen's statement. "Rather nihilistic of you, no?"

"Che, whatever…so, they're still gonna kill her? Sounds pretty wasteful, to be honest."

"Ha! No, I doubt Tsune-sama would want her dead," the white-eyed man made a sucked in laugh. "Remember what I told you? About how his 'garden' works?"

"OH! That, yeah I could see why they'd keep her alive…"

Kaiko brought a manila folder out from beneath his coat and opened it, presenting its contents to the half-ghoul. Inside were three files, only two of which had pictures to accompany them. The first was a man the half-ghoul deduced to be Kuzen when he was younger, and the second of a short, attractive woman with blonde hair done in a bob cut.

Eric wolf-whistled at the sight of the second picture. "So that was the human, huh?"

"Yes, that was the human. Ukina was an investigative reporter who found out about V, like I told you. She didn't know about her dear fiancé's involvement with us until it was too late, of course."

The teen nodded his head. "Huh, interesting...so, what do we do with the new info?"

"Obviously we'll tell our bosses. Tsune-sama has the resources to search for her, and I know he'll be interested enough to find them if he doesn't," Kaiko flashed the teen a bright smile. "Of course, you'll be asked to join in, considering your..._expertise_ with one-eyes."

A dark chuckle escaped the teen's throat. "I'm already looking for Subject 3 down there in my spare time, so looking for one more wont hurt," Eric's kakugan flashed as a twisted smirk spread across his face. "If anything, it'll be killing two birds with one stone...might end up being some emphasis on the killing part if I'm lucky, hehehe…"


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright, so this chapter has a bit bigger of an edit than last one. For much of these, the basic story wasn't gonna change, but how everything flowed was. Here, I added a bit more to the OC's past, as well as how things are back home. And finally a short little Omake right towards the end.

**Ōta ward, Tokyo**

"So this is the 11th ward, huh?" Tetsuomi surveyed the area.

The redhead stood beside his boss and Moriomi, staring at the street the half-ghoul had lived in before his life went pear-shaped. The teen flinched as a loud noise echoed far above them, and he tilted his head just in time to see an airplane flying overhead.

"The hell is with that?"

"Haneda Airport is in the ward, so it happens," Meiko said.

"Ah, th-that makes sense…"

Moriomi cringed at the noise. "It isn't too close but still…How the hell did you get used to that Riley?"

"..."

"...Riley?"

The three looked around for the half-ghoul that was supposedly accompanying them, growing uneasy at his disappearance. The plum-haired girl turned around, jumping back when she found a tall figure in a dark robe standing behind her, their face hidden by a large hood. The ghoulette blinked in confusion before narrowing her eyes.

_"Riley, why are you wearing that?"_

_"I don't want anybody to see me."_

_"Take the hood off!"_ she flipped the hood off the preteen's head, eliciting a terrified gasp from him and causing him to immediately pull it back up.

The girl continued to try and pull the hood down, the boy fearfully putting it back in place to hide himself every time. The other two ghouls sweatdropped as the girl entered a 'battle' with the preteen over his hood.

The raven-haired teen shook his head in exasperation. "Kid, how the hell did you even get that cloak anyway?"

"Nee-san was digging through her storage chest a while ago and threw it out…along with a bunch of other things…"

Meiko shrunk at this, a sheepish look spreading across her face. "Hehe, oh yeah that might have happened a while back," her face grew serious as she looked up at the half-ghoul. _"Riley, you can't wear that hood!"_

_"My old neighbors could see me…"_

_"So what?!"_

_"My brother could find out…"_

_"Your brother won't find you here Riley, I promise."_

_"Yeah, he would! People would still notice me!"_

Meiko adjusted her glasses and set the boy with a stern look. "Riley, nobody would notice you."

"I'm a tall white kid with bright silver hair, in JAPAN…Everybody will notice me."

"What? No that's not true, nobody will notice you."

All three boys sent the girl a deadpan glare.

"...What?!"

Testuomi sighed in annoyance. "Mei-chan, less than 2% of Tokyo's current population is made up of white people. Riley is around 6 feet tall, and yes, his hair is shiny as hell. There's no way people won't notice him."

Moriomi's face fell at the girl's dejected look. "Ah, hey, why don't we get this over with? You know, so we can get home early," the dark-haired boy turned to the half-ghoul. "Uh, why don't you lead the way, kiddo."

The half-ghoul nodded slowly beneath his hood before slowly moving forward. The other three quietly followed him through the neighborhood, all of them taking care to stick to the darker parts of the sidewalk and avoiding the streetlights. Finally, the tall boy stopped in front of a house at the back end of the street.

Much like the rest of the neighborhood, the home had a slight western feel to it. The house looked as though no one had bothered to do basic upkeep on it, the yard having long been overgrown with weeds and grasses. The wooden exterior was old and worn, and it wasn't hard to see the cracked windows from the sidewalk. The door looked as though it had been mauled to pieces, the frame completely ripped apart.

Riley stared at the broken down building with a blank gaze, a slight tremble in his lips as his fists clenched hard. The other three gave the boy sympathetic looks as he tried to keep himself from breaking down.

Meiko looked at rundown house with a slight grimace. _"So, that's it huh?"_

_"...Yeah, this was where we lived before everything that happened, well...happened."_

The preteen took several deep breaths to calm himself, wiping away small tears as he let out a short sniffle. The half-ghoul tilted his head curiously, then his eyes widened in surprise. The boy quickly backed away from the group.

_"N-No...I have to hide…"_

_"What? Riley, what are you going on about?"_ the plum-haired girl furrowed her brows in confusion.

_"Someone will see me, have to…"_ the half-ghoul's eyes widened and he pointed to the street. _"What is that?"_

"Eh? What is he talking about?" the three ghouls looked to where the boy had pointed in confusion, then looked back to where the half-ghoul had been.

"Wha-what the fuck!? Where did he go?!" the redhead stamped his foot angrily at the tall boy's second disappearing act of the day. "He couldn't have just-" Tetsuomi cut himself off at the sound of light footsteps approaching.

The three ghouls looked to their right to find a small elderly woman slowly walking towards them. The group's initial apprehension dropped somewhat as their nostrils flared at her human scent.

The old woman looked at them with a wide, closed-eyed smile. "Oh my goodness, it's quite unusual to have visitors to our small neighborhood."

The three sweatdropped, still nervous about how to handle the human in front of them. The boys gently shoved their leader forward, much to her chagrin.

Meiko flashed the elderly lady a bright smile nonetheless. "Uh, yeah, we actually have some business here. I was actually wondering about that house," the girl pointed to the derelict building before them. "Obviously we're not interested in buying. It just has something to do with a friend of ours."

"Oh, I see…" the old lady's mouth morphed into a frown. "So I can assume you know their relatives?"

"...R-Relatives?"

"Yes, I doubt the father was around, at least that's how I understand," the woman stiffened when she spotted the plum-haired girl's confused look. "Oh goodness! You must not know the whole story, I'm guessing."

"No, not really…" the ghoulette deadpanned. "Just the bare minimum was given to us. We're here to salvage any personal effects left."

Tetsuomi stepped forward with a hardened expression. "I'd actually like to hear what happened, if you'd be ok with that."

"Well, I suppose I could. The best way to start would be around...hmm, let me think...it was maybe seven or eight years ago, I think," the woman's tone turned solemn as she began her piece. "There was this pretty young American woman who moved into the house with her three little ones. We were all rather surprised how fluent she was in Japanese, honestly it seemed like she was practically born here. I remember when there were some neighborhood parties, sometimes she would be asked about her husband and...well, she clarified that he wasn't dead at least."

"What about her kids?" the redhead asked slowly.

"Oh, them? Yes, they were just darlings, though the eldest was rather aloof. The youngest of course, well I didn't think a four-year-old could act so tame...it was quite unnerving that he always had some sort of head injury though," the old woman cupped a hand to her chin in thought. "The daughter didn't speak to the other children in the neighborhood as much, now that I think about it. I think she was probably just very shy..."

Meiko listened to the woman with trepidation, quickly interjecting her tangent. "If you don't mind me asking, uh...what happened to them exactly?"

"Oh, that...yes, well it was maybe around 6 years ago, I think they went out for dinner, or ice cream, I can't remember which…" the woman shook her head sadly. "When they came back, the woman found her door open. We thought they were just people in clown masks at first, but once we saw the eyes and those..._limbs_, we knew they were ghouls. I think she tried to fight back, but to little effect. She and her children were kidnapped and spirited off, and we all assumed the worst…"

Tetsuomi cringed at her last few words. "W-When you say 'the worst', what exactly do you mean, baasan?"

"Well, obviously they had to have been eaten, since those were ghouls after all. They're just dreadful creatures, and there's more of them in this ward than all of the others, so it seems," the woman's nose curled up in disdain. "None of the neighbors tried to help them because of that, actually. Anybody living in the 11th probably has to develop some sense of paranoia to keep themselves alive, so we didn't want to interrupt for our own safety."

The three teens stared at the old woman with blank expressions. The woman tilted her head towards them for a split second before continuing.

"Of course, one of our neighbors, Ryuzaki-san, he lives right over there," the old lady pointed to the house at the end of the street, directly adjacent to the half-ghoul's old home. "He lives with his young son. They're both a bit eccentric, but Ryuzaki is quite the conspiracy theorist. He claims that the woman and her family might not have been eaten at all. His claims range from crazy mad scientists to some breeding cult that wants to oppress the world and create the perfect species or something. It's quite hard to believe some of the things he says…"

Meiko flashed the woman an unsteady smile. "Well, your neighbor seems...interesting, to say the least," the plum-haired girl looked to the derelict house. "Do you know if anything was taken from the house?"

"Hmm? Oh, some things were taken, I think. There were some individuals that came after those clowns, they took a lot of stuff...they were probably ghouls themselves," the old woman put a finger to her chin in thought. "After the CCG did their investigation, there wasn't really much done. Some of the neighbors took stuff that they thought they could use, anything else was taken as evidence, and the rest would have been sold at an auction," the woman looked to the old building sadly. "It's just so terrible to think about what happened to them...the three of you, you wanted to check for anything to give to their relatives?"

"Yeah, they were worried about them," the ghoulette adjusted her glasses with a short sigh. "I guess we can search around. If we can't find anything, the best we can do is give them closure."

"I'd look around for a key to give you, but…" the old woman looked at the mauled doorway meekly. "I don't think it'd be really necessary...oh! Do take care when you leave, all of you. There was a ghoul attack the other day."

"Ah, well I think we can get home safely. Thanks a lot, baasan," the redhead gave an awkward wave to the woman as she walked off, a frown spreading across his face once he knew she was out of view. "Could you believe that woman? 'Oooh, ghouls are just awful creatures! By the way, we never actually helped that innocent family that was kidnapped, we just stood by and let it happen'. Good god…"

"Well, I'm not gonna blame them for not getting caught in the crossfire," Moriomi said blankly as he faced the house. "But yeah, they could have called the doves sooner if they were really that scared."

Meiko let out a short huff. "As much as I don't like to fault humans for being stupid, just sitting by like that is pretty stupid," the plum-haired girl looked around for a few more seconds before facing the derelict building with a sigh. "Alright, let's go inside…"

* * *

Meiko frowned at the state of the room before them. "I guess this must have been the living room?"

"There's blood right over there," Tetsuomi pointed. "Hell, I can't see a place where there isn't dried blood. What the hell?"

The room was a crude shadow of a normal living room, having long since fallen into decay. Even without taking this into account, the state of what furniture was left was notable. Any of the couch and chair frames were broken and cracked, or torn to shreds. The sole couch in the room looked as though a bear had used it as a scratching post.

And like Tetsuomi had said, there were spots with dried blood around them. One area around the doorway leading to the living room had small splatters of red on the floor and walls. The area around the couch was practically soaked in red, and there was a visible trail of it leading all the way to the front door. The plum-haired girl blanched as she noticed that even the ceiling had been stained by blood.

Meiko felt disgust welling up in her. 'This is where it all happened…'

She looked around the room, before finding Riley sitting at the back of the room, back against the wall. The half-ghoul simply stared at his own feet with an unreadable expression, occasionally shuddering for a few split seconds before falling back to his neutral state.

Meiko walked over to him and laid a hand on his shoulder. _"You okay?"_

"...I'm not really sure," the half-ghoul leaned his head back while looking up at the ceiling. _"I didn't know what to expect. I figured there'd be a bit more here, but I guess we never really had much in the first place,"_ the boy chewed the inside of his cheek as he surveyed the room. _"Mom always worked hard to afford the house, and she worked to make sure we could eat...that never left a lot of rooms for personal belongings…"_

"Hey, there's a lot of old blood here," Tetsuomi cringed as his shoe squeaked from the dried fluid. "Literally, there's a bunch of this shit…"

The half-ghoul tilted his head towards the couch. "I think that's hers...my mom's, that is."

"Eaugahah!" the redhead jolted away from the spot, only to find himself stepping onto another.

"That's my brother's...feel free to stomp on it for me…"

"No thank you," the redhead quickly backed away, blanching when he stepped in a spot reddish-brown near the doorway.

"That's my sister's...not much to say there…"

"Ugh, I really feel uncomfortable about this…"

"This is my old house, and the living room is covered in my family's blood. How do you think I feel about it?"

"Ah, fair enough…" Tetsuomi said tiredly.

_"So, you don't have anything left to remember them by?"_ Meiko asked nervously.

_"I don't think so,"_ the tall boy stood up shakily. _"Just old memories and-"_ the preteen froze as a portion of the floor creaked beneath his foot. _"My room...something in my room…"_

The three teens blinked owlishly as the half-ghoul charged towards his old room. The other three looked at each other in confusion before quickly following the hybrid. They found the half-ghoul rummaging through what was left of his old dwelling, looking through the old closets and crawl spaces he could find, throwing anything he found behind him.

Tetsuomi sweatdropped at this. "Looks like he's picking up your habits Mei-chan…"

"...Shut it Tetsuo!" the plum-haired girl turned back to the tall boy, swallowing nervously when she noticed his frustration growing. _"Hey, you sure there's something in here?"_

_"Yeah, mom always said something about a 'contingency plan' she placed in our rooms in case something happened, so that we could take care of ourselves…"_

Riley looked towards the back of the room, and Meiko followed his gaze. At the back was an old metal bed frame, rusted and weathered by time. The half-ghoul walked over to it and dropped down to the floor right next to it, pressing his ear against the floorboards.

_"I...Riley, what are you doing?"_

_"I have no idea,"_ the half-ghoul said.

_"Oh...well then…"_

The tall preteen furrowed his brows before lightly tapping the floor. The boy let out an unsatisfied huff before moving his arm, rapping his knuckles across several points of the wooden floor. Eventually, instead of the normal sound of wood being hit, there was a hollow noise, causing the half-ghoul to smirk.

"Found it!" the preteen cried out, pulling up the floorboard right beneath the bed frame.

A cloud of dust escaped the medium sized compartment the tall boy had revealed, causing the three ghouls behind him to cough and sputter at the amount. The half-ghoul's hands dove into the compartment, and after over a minute of struggling, a triumphant smirk spread across the boy's face as he pulled a wooden box out.

_"...Your mom carved a hole in the floor and hid a box in it?"_ Meiko asked flatly.

_"Yeah, I remember waking up one night and she was right next to my bed. I was still half-asleep, so when I asked what she was doing she told me I was dreaming…"_ he turned to his surrogate sister with a strained smile. _"I'm not sure what she hid in this, but I always remember her telling my brother and sister that she had stuff hidden away in our rooms in case she…well."_

The plum-haired girl cringed as the preteen's expression turned solemn. Behind her, Tetsuomi leaned forward with a suspicious expression. The redhead walked up to the half-ghoul and scrutinized the box in his hands.

"You sure that thing isn't empty?"

"Doesn't feel empty…" the silver-haired boy shook the box sligthly, a pleasant smile tugging at the corners of his mouth when he heard objects jostling inside. "Good, not empty then."

"Alright, just thought your brother might have gotten to it or something."

"I guess you're right. He wouldn't have much to gain from it though…"

"Except that you'd be suffering or something, right?"

"Yeah, that sounds like him," the half-ghoul said grimly.

Meiko laid a hand on the boy's shoulder reassuringly. "_Hey, you don't have to worry about something like that. You actually got something out of this,"_ the plum-haired girl tapped the box gently. _"I bet your mom probably left you a keepsake in there, right?"_

_"Maybe…"_

"Hey, if that's everything, I think it's time to go," Moriomi said nervously as he looked around the house. "I just...I have a really bad feeling, all the sudden."

"Where did the bad man touch you, Morio?" Tetsuomi asked jokingly.

"I'm not joking!" the dark-haired teen said in exasperation.

Meiko looked to the raven-haired boy in concern before standing up. "Alright, I guess we could get going…" the bespectacled girl turned to the tall boy. _"You sure that's everything?"_

The hybrid furrowed his brows in thought. _"I...my sister probably has one too...same as my brother…"_ the boy's shoulders slunk as a solemn look spread across his face. _"They're not mine to take."_

Tetsuomi listened to the girl's translation. "Not even your brother's shit?"

"I don't want anything to do with him," the half-ghoul said lowly.

The redhead let out a short nod before heading off. "I'll go check if the back is clear. I think there's a few alleys we can go through…"

As the group left, Riley looked back to his old home one last time with a forlorn expression. The boy flinched as his caretaker laid a hand on his shoulder reassuringly, giving him a sympathetic look. He quickly pulled his hood up and followed them through the backyard.

Unbeknownst to the group, the old woman from earlier stood in front of the home, discreetly watching them as they left. Once they were out of her field of view, a sickening smirk spread across her face.

"What an interesting turn of events…" the woman rasped as she turned and walked back to her own home. "I suppose I'll have to inform _her_ about this…"

The woman pulled up her landline and quickly dialed a number all too familiar to her. The moment the line was picked up, her eyes opened, revealing active kakugan.

"Moshi moshi?!" a childish voice called out from the other end.

"Gypsy-sama, it's me. I have some news."

"News 'bout what~?"

"That boy you're looking for, the one-eye with silver hair."

"...Go on."

* * *

**"24th ward" Tokyo**

"Well, I'll give your old lady credit where it's due," Kosshi whistled at the contents of the tall boy's box. "She was crazy prepared."

Included were several finance bonds, some in the preteens name, issued by both the american and japanese governments, all of them just several years away from their maturity dates. Alongside them were several notes, all detailing the credentials for several bank accounts, as well as how much money and interest should have built up in them by the time the half-breed was eligible for work.

Riley stared at the small pile of envelopes before him. The tall boy held a finger up questioningly, before dropping his hand mutely. He turned his head to look at the rest of the box's contents, a few books, several personal letters and other documents, and a small package.

The rest of the group stood around the plum-haired girl's table, studying the half-ghoul's reactions. Meiko leaned forward and scrutinized the documents before her when her eyes landed on one in particular.

The bespectacled ghoulette quickly grabbed it and held it triumphantly. "Read it and weep guys! If you still had any doubts, this'll settle it!"

Everybody else sweatdropped in confusion.

"Ah...the hell is that supposed to be?" Tetsuomi asked.

"...It's his birth certificate."

"I have a birth certificate?" Riley's asked with wide eyes.

"Yes, you do... and this'll prove to the two people who still doubt you're a kid that they're idiots!" she glared in annoyance at Kinunao and Kosshi.

The tall girl shrunk as her boss slid the paper towards her, narrowing her eyes when she finally saw the paper up close. "This shit is in english! You know I can't read white-people speak assholes!"

"...How are you not racist again?" the blonde boy snorted at the tall girl's indignant squawk before grabbing the certificate and looking it over himself. Behind him, his twin sibling leaned over his shoulder to read along.

"I can't believe you commies can read more than Russian..."

"The union collapsed years ago, bitch!" Kinunao grumbled. "Besides, we were born in _this_ country. Also, you know who taught us english…"

"Well, what does it say?" Tetsuomi asked nervously.

" Riley Terrance Jameson, born 198X. Huh, so he's gonna be twelve in...oh, february 17? That's not too far away..."

Kinuyo looked over to the half-ghoul, flashing the boy a small smile. _"So, you were born a few days after Valentine's Day, huh?"_

The hybrid blushed at the girl's question. _"Yeah, my mom always told me I was her 'belated present' and whatnot…"_

Kosshi listened to the translation in confusion. "Isn't the girl supposed to give the gift? White Day is when you-"

"Different countries, different customs," Meiko interjected. "Huh, actually I think that's something I'll need to tell you about…"

The tall boy blinked in confusion. _"Uh...what?"_

_"When Valentine's Day comes...the western...I'm not sure how to explain it to you actually…"_

Riley blushed and quickly grabbed one of the books, opening it in hopes of taking his mind off the conversation. The moment the preteen opened the first page, his blush darkened and he quickly closed it with a loud noise. The group stared at him owlishy for several seconds before Neneko tried to make a grab for the book.

"Hey!" the preteen cried out.

"Whattya hidin', huh?"

"NOTHING! It's nothing important!" the hybrid said, voice higher in pitch than normal.

"Bull! Showmeshowmeshowmeshowme!" the cat-girl finally snatched the book from the boy's grasp and opened the first page, letting out a loud gasp as her eyes went starry. "KAWAII!"

"Awww...no…" Riley quickly slunk to the floor as the other three girls of the group crowded around Neneko, all letting out small gasps at what they saw.

Inside the book were the hybrid's baby pictures. Dominating the first page was a photograph of an infant Riley in an owl onesie, with several more pictures on the adjacent page. The boy in question slumped further into his seat in embarrassment.

"Oh my god!" Kosshi cried out, "this is hilarious! You look so tiny."

"Eeee! Its so cute, I can't even!" Kinuyo said happily.

"Maybe you should odd instead!" her brother called out.

"...Nii-san, oh my god I swear!"

Moriomi popped his head behind Meiko to get a better look. "Pfft, ok, that's pretty funny to look at…" the dark-haired boy furrowed his brows at the pictures. "Why is your hair black?"

"That's how it used to be," the hybrid said anxiously.

"Then why is it white now?" Neneko looked over to the hybrid with a suspicious gaze.

"It just turned white after…" the half-breed trailed off.

"After what?" she asked, causing Riley to shrink down further under her questioning gaze.

"Hey! Why do you have bandages around your head in this one?" Kosshi asked.

The hybrid froze and looked away. "It's kinda embarrassing…"

"Couldn't be that bad, could it?"

"...I wanted to be a Dragon," the boy said nervously, fumbling over some of his japanese before switching to english. _"My mom, she'd always read me 'The Hobbit' before bed when I was a kid. I can quote all of Smaug's lines perfectly, and I really wanted to be a Dragon like him, destroying everything and stuff."_

The group had varying reactions as they listened to the translation from Meiko and Kinuyo. Kininao leaned forward and rested his hands on the table as a nervous expression spread across his face.

_"What exactly does that have to do with having a head injury?"_

_"Well...since I wanted to be a dragon...that also meant flying…"_ the tall boy blushed darkly before swallowing nervously. _"So, that means I'd jump off of high places...sometimes with pieces of cardboard attached to my arms, like wings…"_

There was a short bout of laughter from the blonde boy as Meiko translated for the rest of the group. Soon enough, the rest joined in at the poor boy's expense, causing him to shrink further in his seat.

"Hahaha! Oh...dude, I'm sorry, it's just…" Tetsuomi held back a snigger at the boy's dejected look. "I can't help but imagine a tinier you quoting something from a big old dragon before base jumping off a table."

_"Riley, did you keep trying even after the first time hitting your head?"_ Meiko cringed as the boy nodded. _"And you didn't think to stop?"_

_"...Dragons fly though?"_

_"Glaurung was the first dragon, and he didn't fly,"_ the plum-haired girl sighed as the boy tried to process this. _"Riley, you might get to be a dragon...maybe. A dragon is just a big lizard that breathes fire, the flying part is optional."_

_"Oh...okay then…"_

Tetsuomi shook his head as he scrutinized the boy's birth certificate. "This says here…you were born in California?"

"Yeah, I was."

"How was California?" Moriomi asked.

"...It was hot."

Several members of the group facevaulted at this. Moriomi lifted his head towards the boy, a bead of sweat trailing down the side of his head.

"I mean, what was it like to live in California?" the raven-haired teen clarified.

"...It would get really hot."

Once again, several members of the group were literally floor by the boy's response. Meiko and Kinuyo stood behind them, covering their mouths to silence their giggles. Beside them, Kentetsu stared at the scene with an amused smile.

Moriomi looked up at the boy with a deadpan stare. "I meant what was it like for our kind…y'know, in the states."

Riley's shoulders slunk as he mulled over the dark-haired teen's question. "I haven't been back obviously," the preteen let out a short sigh. "I was really little when I was there, so I don't remember much…"

Memories of the hateful glares from faces that he had thought he could trust flashed through his mind. The noise of blazing gunfire and wooden doors being smashed through, and hateful words he had barely understood wormed their way through his thoughts.

The boy closed his eyes as he remembered a giant of a man biding his mother goodbye as he unsheathed a monstrous, almost living sword and turned away from her. Despite how young he had been, the image of his father charging towards his own human family to buy his wife and children time to escape could never leave his mind.

"It's not really all that different than how it is here…"

* * *

**Meanwhile, in California**

Arthur stared down as an indescribable mess was dropped in front of him with audibly disgusting noises. The dark-haired man hummed as his fellow prisoner finished shovelling the gruel into his tray, looking down at the man with expressionless blue eyes.

"Thanks for the food, Paul," the former investigator ignored the man's curt grunt and walked off.

As the giant began walking towards a mostly empty table towards the back of the cafeteria, he felt something slamming into his shin. The man fell to the ground, a sharp hiss of pain escaping from his mouth as he halted his descent with a single arm. The giant's expression fell when he realized his food was now all over his shirt and pants.

Before Arthur could even attempt to salvage his lunch, he heard a mocking laugh behind him.

"Wow Artie, looks like you stepped on my foot…" the guard harshly rapped the giant on his leg with a baton. "Don't you know how rude that is?"

"I-I'm very sorry about that, I pro-"

"Damn right you're sorry!"

Arthur closed his eyes as the rod came down on his back _hard_, the large man biting his lip to the point of breaking the skin as he held back a yelp. The giant shuddered in pain as the guard walked around him, a sardonic chuckle echoing above his lowered head.

"Honestly, I feel like solitary would suit you for that little 'transgression'."

'Please no…' the former investigator thought desperately.

"But I think I can let you off with a warning, big guy," the guard tapped him on the head roughly with the baton before walking off. "Of course, I'll have to write up a report about this little 'incident' now, won't I?"

The giant's teeth clenched hard as he listened to several guards and fellow prisoners laughing at him mockingly. He stood up shakily and salvaged what he could of his lunch before secluding himself as best as he could.

'Wonderful, another chance to have a reduced sentence lost…'

**Later that night**

Arthur Jameson laid on a bed that was comically undersized for his frame, his legs nearly hanging off the lowest edge. The giant had gotten used to the fact that no prison he would be in would give him the proper accommodations, it had just stuck with him after the first. As he tried to get to sleep, a head peeked over from the upper bunk, cracked glasses shining in the dark.

"Hey, Liam, I kinda want to go to sleep," the giant looked at the bespectacled man dejectedly before closing his eyes. "Please, just leave me be…"

"Why?"

Arthur took a deep breath before turning back to look at the man. "Why what?"

"Why did you just let them wail on you like that?" Liam lowered his head further towards the large man. "Not just the guards, everybody. Why do you just take it? You're like, twice the size of every guy here, but you just do nothing."

"I want a reduced sentence," the giant said simply.

"That again? How long have you been here?"

"This specific prison? About..three years, I think," Arthur flicked several locks of his greying hair away from his eyes. "Three out of seven, with one year in a maximum security prison, and the other three…"

"Don't you have like, a 25 year sentence?"

"Uh huh…"

"And you still think you can get out on 'good behavior', right?"

"Well, the warden said I've been doing really well. Even got certificates for reductions," the giant said blankly.

"Ok, where are those certificates then?"

"...If I were a betting man, their shredded remains are probably at the bottom of the trash," a tired sigh escaped Arthur's throat. "They're all probably already at the dump, now that I think about it."

"Ok, so why do you still think you'd get a reduced sentence?"

"If I lose hope, then I'm just getting my ass kicked for nothing," the large man shrunk in his bed as he mulled his life over.

"What was up with them anyway?" Liam asked nervously.

"Hmm? Well, Johnny was supposed to be my friend, but then he retracted his statement about hybrids cause 'politics' and shit. Karen had a crush on me since we were in middle school and she got jealous that Erika 'stole' me, so when she had a chance to be on the prosecution she-"

"Not your old boss and the lawyer bitch who got you locked up, I meant the ghouls."

"Well, the first one I had as a cellmate in the ghoul prison, he didn't really like me that much at first but-"

"Not those ghouls, dumbass! Your family," the bespectacled man flinched as the giant set him with a blank stare. "If that's alright with you…"

Arthur stared off into space as his eyes misted over. "There's so much I could say about them...they were everything to me," the large man sat up in his bed with a short grunt. "I miss them. Every day, I think about them and where they are…"

"What were they like?"

"...Erika, she was an amazing woman. Kind, smart, caring, energetic and she was gorgeous too. She wanted to go to Japan one day, she was actually a huge Japanophile," the giant let out an amused snort. "Of course, she always corrected me with the Japanese word for it. She...she practically used japanese as a second language, at least how I remember it. She didn't kill people, or at least she didn't want to. She only scavenged, t-that's when they only eat bodies that are already dead."

"And you kids, they were really...y'know?"

Arthur looked around anxiously before continuing. "Hybrids, yeah. They only had one of the eye things," the giant pointed to his right eye. "Only showed up in the right eye, so we'd have them wear eyepatches to hide them. They...they meant a lot to me, my kids that is. My oldest, he was a little stinker now that I think about it, but I think everything just weighed on him."

"Uh...how so?"

"Well, other kids just didn't go near him. Even if they were ghoul children, I guess they could sense he was 'wrong' in a way. My wife and I were always so busy with work, I guess we should have realized how lonely he was," the large man swallowed a lump in his throat. "My daughter, the middle child...she was a lot more like Erika, only way more energetic. I think my wife said it was like a trope she read in one of those weird Japanese comics, the ones that go from right to left instead of how it is here. I forget what all that was called actually," a sad sigh escaped his lips as he leaned back onto his bed. "Riley, my youngest, he was a bit different…"

"Did he not have ghoul powers?"

"No, it's not that...I mean, he was practically a toddler the last time I saw him, so they didn't really show up yet," the giant glanced to the side wistfully. "He was a lot more like my grandpa. Just, a bit quiet and reserved, but he had a big heart. Whenever he saw his big sister cry, he'd just toddle on up to her and give her a hug. Did the same with his brother, but his brother didn't really like that too much…"

Liam flinched at the large man's dejected look. "When you get out...you're gonna try to fight for ghoul rights, aren't you?"

"Do you think I have anything else to do?" the giant snorted at the bespectacled man's incredulous look. "What, you think it's crazy?"

"Kinda...I mean, there's no way you aren't gonna be arrested-"

"For freedom of speech? You can't get arrested for saying 'words', so long as you're not inciting physical violence," a smug grin spread across Arthur's face. "So, even if the FDGC doesn't like what I have to say, they can't really do much about it."

"I dunno, they can discredit you-"

"With what? Everybody knows why I'm in here," the large man reclined his head with an annoyed hiss. "What are they gonna do, plant drugs on me? That'll be too obvious…"

"I think that's the least they'd do to you," Liam said exasperatedly. "I mean, regardless of whether or not they're a law enforcement agency, the DGC is known for some pretty shady stuff. I'd be more worried if the Mafia came knocking at your door...or the fucking Yakuza, that'd be sorta poetic since your wife...y'know."

"I was trained to fight non-human creatures with superhuman abilities, I think I can handle myself," the giant glanced at his cellmate from the corner of his eye. "It's lights out, you know? I really do want to get some sleep, Liam."

"Right, Right! Sorry, it's just, I figured I'd ask about that, since…" the bespectacled man trailed off.

"You're getting out in a few months, and you just couldn't hold it in?" Arthur nodded slightly. "I understand, it's no big deal."

"Gee, thanks man," Liam lifted himself back to his bunk and hunkered down for the night. "Talk to ya tomorrow, alright Artie."

"You too, Liam…"

For Arthur, a good night's sleep was practically a commodity. On a prison bed barely large enough for him to lay down on, it was nearly impossible for him to be asleep for more than a few hours at a time. Which is why he was somewhat irritable when he was woken up after only getting all of three hours of sleep.

"Artie! Artie! Artie, wake up!"

"Ugh...Liam, what is it?!"

"Artie, there was screaming! I think I heard people getting torn apart outside," the bespectacled man shook the giant again. "Artie, the guards! I think they're all dead!"

"It's probably just some joke they're playing on eachother," Arthur said tiredly, reclining his head back as he ignored his cellmate's protests. "Just go back to sleep…"

"Arthur, this is serious! Everybody is on edge," Liam knelt down and shook the large man once again. "Come on, grab that shiv I made you, I think something big is happening."

"Liam, there's nothing going on, now please just-" the giant was cut off by a loud scream from further within the building.

Instantly the former investigator was completely alert, jolting upright as several more screams echoed throughout the building. The two prisoners quickly scrambled around their beds to find their makeshift weapons as the screams grew closer. Soon enough, Arthur could practically hear every prisoner on the cellblock being torn apart.

"I think I found mine...Jesus christ!" Liam cried out. "What the hell is going on? Why is-"

"Liam, shut up for a second!" the giant held a hand up. "Do you hear that?"

"...I don't hear anything, actually."

"Exactly!"

The screams had stopped, leaving only an unnerving, empty silence. Arthur studied what he could see of the prison block, swallowing nervously as he saw what remained of the other prisoners. The giant jolted back as he heard heavy footsteps moving towards them.

A mass of monstrous black tendrils suddenly tore through the bars like paper and sliced through the cell walls like cardboard. Liam's high pitched scream was silenced as a pair of tendrils beset him, decapitating and dismembering him in the blink of an eye. Arthur went ghost pale as a large shape followed the dark tentacles.

**"Now that that's done, we can have a little chat…"**

It was a humanoid and wore a suit and tie, but any human-like qualities ended there. It was more than twice the giant's own height, courtesy of it's monstrously elongated arms, legs, and torso, thus its clothes were stretched and ripped at the arms and legs to accommodate it. Trailing away from its torso were dozens up dozens of long black tentacles that looked almost like tree branches. There was no facial features on its head, save for three nearly invisible pairs of horizontal slits where eyes would be, and a short line running from its chin all the way to where a nose should have been.

**"It's so good to see you again, Arthur,"** the creature said in an androgynous, monotone voice.

The giant in question narrowed his eyes at the kakuja. "Tall Man…"

**"I really wish they would have chosen a better name than that…"** the ghoul put a hand to it's head in exasperation as it crouched down in the small prison cell. **"I mean, seriously? Big Man, Tall Man, Thin Man, Slender Man...those are just basic descriptions. In fact, at least half of those apply to you as well, I'm surprised nobody ever got confused…"**

"What do you want, Tall Man?"

**"I just wanted to talk, you know,"** the kakuja tilted its faceless head to the side. **"I figured I'd see how you're doing, catch up and what not."**

"Why are you acting like we're friends?" Arthur growled through gritted teeth. "I've seen what you've done, what you're capable of," the tall man motioned to his now dead cellmate. "You just killed _him_, he wasn't anything more than a petty thief! Hell, you probably killed the whole fucking prison!"

**"Well, that's besides the point, Arthur. I really do care about you, you know that?"** the monstrous ghoul leaned down while resting its face on one of its hands. **"I've been soooo bored without you, actually. Since you were practically fired by the Hawks* and locked away, I had to put our game on hold."**

"Well, sorry to disappoint you," the giant said coldly. "But I don't think I'll be able to play, period."

**"You still have your Quinque, don't you?"** the Tall Man leaned towards Arthur. **"Or at least, I know you can reobtain it once you get out."**

"I'm not getting out! Even on good behavior-"

**"I already sent the evidence of malpractice to local media and law enforcement. Your certificates were put on record, even if the physical copies were destroyed with prejudice,"** the monstrous ghoul leaned back with a monotone chuckle. **"You'll probably be moved to another prison. If you play your cards right there, you might end up only serving 11 or 12 years."**

"...Why? Why the hell are you helping me?"

**"That's an interesting question...I already told you _why_ of course…"** the kakuja twisted his tentacles around. **"Let me ask you a question, 'Artie'. You wish to fight for the rights of ghouls when you get out...does that mean all ghouls?"**

The giant hesitated for a few seconds before setting the ghoul with a fierce look. "Yes! Even you deserve rights...including the right to a goddamn attorney!" Arthur's mouth curled into a snarl as he stood from his bed. "You don't even kill for food! You murder women and rip their insides out, and hang everything around in the woods like fucking Halloween decorations, then you _laugh_ about it!"

**"I do kill for food, actually…"**

"You eat CHILDREN!" the man cried out. "You're a damn monster, and you'd still be a monster even if you were a human doing it!"

**"...Is that why you plan on stabbing me?"**

Arthur froze as one of the Tall Man's tendrils snapped forward and grabbed him by the arm. The giant let out a pained grunt as the black limbs wrenched a crude shiv from his hands, before flicking it out the window.

**"I honestly have no idea what you were planning there."**

"I could have stabbed it through your eye," the man choked out.

**"Perhaps...you would have lost a hand in the process, of course,"** the kakuja leaned towards Arthur once again. **"I want our game to continue, Arthur. When you get out of prison, go ahead and fight for ghoul rights. Go and reunite with your wife and children when you don't have to be scrutinized for it."**

"And you'll try to kill me the whole time?"

**"No, I think I can wait. After all, you've been cast out to the point that it wouldn't really be that fun anymore. I'd suggest rejoining the DGC, so you'd have a better chance..."**

"So you'll hold off until I'm back to being an investigator?" Arthur let out a sardonic chuckle. "Yeah, I guess I'll be fine as long as I stay away from that place."

**"You misunderstood, 'Artie'. Rejoining the DGC was only a suggestion,"** the Tall Man brought the giant close to its face. **"Our game continues once ghouls in America get the same rights as humans."**

The human flinched as he was dropped to the floor, watching as the ghoul slowly walked off. The kakuja turned to him one last time, a demonic mouth opening on its face and twisting into a demonic grin.

**"Feel free to take your time with that...there should be enough food in storage for you, before someone comes to check up on the place,"** the creature quickly slunk away with a monotone chuckle. **"Have a good night, 'Artie'..."**

* * *

**OMAKE**

**7 years before the escape**

"So...what is he doing again?" Eric asked his younger sister.

"Same thing he always does!" the girl shuffled nervously in place. "I tried to tell him it was a bad idea, but-"

"Quiet down there! I'm trying to concentrate!"

Four year old Riley Jameson adjusted the pieces of cardboard attached to his arms, making sure they were strapped on tight. The small half-ghoul fastened his helmet and glared at the ground triumphantly, making sure his stance on the shelf wasn't unbalanced.

"Today is the day!"

"Baby brother! That looks really high up!" the girl cried out. "Do you think you could start lower or something?"

"No! I have to be really high, otherwise the...aerodynamite stuff won't work," the four-year old shook his head. "If I don't do it from really high, then my wings won't catch the flying stuff."

"Baby brother, I really don't think it's smart to do this," Erin flinched as her younger brother set her with a cute but serious glare. "Riley, it isn't gonna work, please come down!"

Eric tilted his head as the smaller hybrid made a few experimentory flaps with his 'wings'. A twisted smirk spread across the 11-year-olds face as he walked forward and cupped his hands to his mouth.

"Do it! Do it!"

"I'm gonna!" the small child called down.

"Please don't, baby brother!" the girl called up to him. "Those wings don't look that strong, they might not work!"

"Don't listen to her, Riley! Believe in your dreams!" Eric called up. "If you wanna be a Dragon, then you gotta do this!"

"Alright then!" the small half-ghoul stepped forward and cleared his throat.

"Ooh! He's gonna do that dorky Smaug quote," the preteen whispered.

"Since the days of Coperni...Coppernea...that Coperney dude, man has dreamed of flight!" the half-ghoul started.

"Aww, damn it…"

"On this historic day, let us go-"

"Oh go on and do it already!" Eric yelled.

"I'm gonna, just let me give my speech!" the small hybrid took a deep breath. "On this historic day, we remember those brothers...the Right guys, I think, whose dreams and visions inspired people."

"He's not gonna do it," the preteen said dejectedly.

"And now, my vision shall usher in a new era of flight. For with this first step, I'll be one step closer to becoming a Dragon and crushing everybody beneath my shoes, like the ants you all are!" Riley let out a maniacal laugh as he imagined himself ruling the world and hoarding treasure. "Behold, the magical power...OF FLIGHT!"

The half-ghoul walked towards the edge of the shelf while flapping his arms up and down, producing short gusts of wind from his makeshift wings. With confidence, the four-year-old quickly leapt into the air.

The small hybrid's flight was incredibly short-lived, ending with him falling to the floor unconscious, with his 'wings' completely destroyed from breaking the fall. Both of his older siblings stared at the boy for several seconds.

Erin let out a short sigh as her older brother began laughing. "Mom is gonna kill us…"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you caught a reference to anything in the Omake, you'd probably be right about what it is. As for the '*Hawks', that's what Ghoul Investigators are called in America. It's to complete the US's bird of prey fetish or something.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one was just changing up the grammar and flow of the story. I also wanted to change how Riley's mental illness was portrayed, since I felt it was a bit phoned in the first time around. Here, you can see he has a lot more issues.

**"24th ward", Tokyo**

**8 months after the escape**

_"Go away!"_

_ "Gosh, why do you have to be such a wet blanket? I just wanna talk to you-" _

_"No, this is not happening!"_ Riley quickly turned to the other person with an enraged expression. He waved his hands toward them threateningly as a growl emanated from his throat. _"You aren't here! You're not here!"_

_"Well that's not a very nice thing to say, baby brother,"_ the figure wiped away mock tears from her face while forcing out a couple of sniffles. _"We haven't talked to each other in forever, and the first thing you do is yell at me? You're such a meanie!_"

The tall boy looked to the other with a strained grimace. Staring up at the preteen was a dark-haired girl no older than 7, her sky-blue eyes wide like a puppy's as a playful smirk stretched across her face. The girl danced around in a short dress complete with overalls, giggling every few seconds as she moved with almost angelic grace.

The half-ghoul glared at her from beneath his bangs and bared his teeth. _"Stop looking at me like that!"_

_ "Quit being a meanie! You're the one who's running away from me and yelling at me! And you kept ignoring me too! You're so cruel baby brother!" _

_"You're NOT real!"_ Riley cried out as he once again tried to escape. _"You're fake, you're just in my head!" the boy fell to his knees and clutched his ears. "You're just another damn voice like the rest! Just leave me alone!"_

The phantom's face morphed into a faux pout as she skipped over to him. "_EH, you're so serious! Why do you have to be such a dummy like that,"_ the hallucinatory girl curled her arms around the half-ghoul's neck. _"Why do you let them call you that? That weird nerdy one, the blonde one, even the cat. They all call you 'outoto', like you're their actual brother. How can you let them do that...you dirty traitor…"_

_"You...you wouldn't really say that!"_ the hybrid sobbed. _"You wouldn't! You're not really her, she's gone and-"_

_"You really do care about them a lot, huh?"_ the phantom leaned forward with a short giggle. _"What are ya gonna do if they die?"_

Riley froze at the phantom's words. The tall boy quickly curled his knees to his chest before clutching his head angrily. The illusion pulled away from him and walked around to face him as he began whispering to himself.

_"Not just them either. What if you meet a nice girl, one you want to settle down with and spend the rest of your life with like you told mom you wanted,"_ the girl tilted her head at the boy playfully. The half-breed rocked back and forth as the phantom began twirling around with a maniacal giggle. _"If that happened, she'd die too, and we both know who would do her in. It's not a matter of if, baby brother,"_ the apparition leaned forward with a sardonic smirk. "_It's a matter of __When."_

_"Stop…"_

_"It's just a fact of life. You're gonna lose them all, just like you lost mom-"_

_"I said shut up!"_ Riley turned to the girl with an enraged expression, then faltered once he caught sight of her.

Its appearance had changed completely, no longer vibrant and cheerful like before. The skin looked pale from the beginnings of decay, and the eyes were now completely devoid of life. A fist-sized hole went straight through the side of her torso where her heart would be, crimson fluid still leaking out copiously.

** "You're going to have to face it, baby brother. You'll lose everybody, just like you lost me." **

_"STOP IT! JUST STOP IT!"_

Riley's kagune emerged and darted forward, slamming into the wall directly next to the hallucinatory girl's head. The child tilted her head curiously as her appearance shifted back to her 'normal' self, her cheeks puffing up angrily after several seconds.

_"Waah! You're such a meanie! I just wanted to have a conversation with you!_" the apparition blurred out of existence before appearing behind the half-ghoul. The boy flinched as he felt the phantom sensation of hands trailing around his torso in an affectionate hug. _"Why do you have to act so violent? You're no better than he is, y'know."_

The preteen clutched his head in anguish. 'I can't do this...I just can't do this…'

"Riley!"

The boy froze, before turning his head slowly. Meiko walked towards him with a look of concern on her face, not caring about the deep gouges his tail had previously carved into the tunnel. The hybrid shied away as the girl knelt in front of him and placed a hand on his head.

_"Are you alright? You ran off into this part of the tunnels, it's the one with most of the wild animals."_

_"I...it's nothing…"_

_"...Who is it?"_ the plum-haired girl asked worriedly.

The tall boy hesitated for a moment before looking at the girl solemnly. _"It's Erin."_

Meiko frowned sadly at the half-ghoul's distress. _"Riley, it's going to be alright. You're-"_

_"It's not alright!"_ the boy sobbed._ "I'm hearing and seeing my dead sister-my blood sister,"_ the hybrid quickly corrected himself, _"I'm hearing her and seeing her, and she's berating me and calling me useless. And all the other voices that are screaming at me are calling me names and saying I'm a failure and that I should just die, and they're all right!"_

_"No, they're not. They're very wrong,"_ the bespectacled girl pulled the tall boy into a hug and patted his shoulder gently. _"You have been through so much, and you're still able to handle yourself after all of it. You're learning an entirely different language from the ground up, you're learning how to defend yourself, and you're doing everything you can to find a place in the world. You're better than you think,"_ the ghoulette's face fell as the boy quietly muttered to himself. _"Just because some voices in your head are telling you this, doesn't mean you have to listen. You're the one whose kept a stiff upper lip at everything that's been thrown at you, and you've gone through this before too. You can handle it, I know it."_

The half-ghoul pulled away from the hug and sat up straight, taking a deep breath as he faced the girl.

_"I'm scared…"_ the preteen said nervously, a nearly undetectable twitch accompanying his anxious expression. _"I'm worried that I'll freak out, that I'll hurt somebody. I need to be in, like...a safe spot, maybe."_

_"Riley, you're 11 years old. You can't be left on your own,"_ the plum-haired girl helped the boy to his feet and sent him a soft smile. _"Listen, if you're really worried, we could train for a bit later. Even if you 'freak out', you'll be way too exhausted to do anything. Plus, teaching you some new katas will probably help take your mind off all this."_

The half-ghoul flinched at some unknown voice. "_I...maybe you're right…"_

_"Good! Now let's get out of this place. This area has a bunch of Tanuki in it, and I think I saw a Badger a while ago."_

_"What's wrong with Tanukis?"_

Meiko narrowed her eyes at the boy. _"What did I say about petting them?"_

_"They make cute noises…"_ the boy said sheepishly.

_"Ugh, let's…let's just get back home…"_

The half-ghoul followed the girl, grimacing at every whisper in his ear, and every shadow that smiled at the edge of his vision. Beside him, the phantom danced and hummed playfully all the way...

* * *

**A day later**

_ "Pfft! Just what are you doing anyway?" _

The tall boy ignored the hallucination and took a deep breath as he crouched into the combat stance his caretaker had been teaching him for the past year. Behind him, his bikaku tail coiled and flicked around like a scorpions. His mismatched eyes narrowed at the makeshift dummy several feet away, slightly twitching when he noticed a small piece falling off here and there.

The half-ghoul made a slow charge forward, striking the dummy in its 'stomach' before slamming his flattened palms onto its shoulders in a double downward chop. From then on, the preteen used his fists and tail interchangeably to strike several points on the dummy that would be vital bones and joints on a human or ghoul.

The accomplishment the boy felt after destroying the wooden mannequin was shot dead once his surrogate sister walked over. The plum-haired girl scrutinized him for several seconds before correcting his form and repairing the dummy as best she could.

"I thought I was doing better…"

"You are doing better...well, you're speaking Japanese really well right now," the girl said cheerfully. "When it comes to fighting, I kinda figured finesse wouldn't really be something you could pull off."

_"Hurtful?"_

"Riley, if you somehow manage to be smaller than 7 feet, you're still gonna be ridiculously big. You could definitely be _fast_, even at 7 feet, but…" the ghoulette rubbed the back of her head sheepishly. "The best you could do is something that's straightforward, something that's fast and brutal without taking too much energy."

"So...something like a street thug from back home?"

"Y-Yes, but not as easy to defend against. That's why I sorta...reworked my own style and whatnot."

"You mean the fighting style that…" the boy trailed off as he fumbled over the language. _"The fighting style that doesn't use your kagune?"_

"I think _your_ kagune specifically should only be used as a last result," the girl said with finality. "It's ridiculously huge, so it'll be pretty cumbersome in a fight. If you can train yourself to use it to control the fight, I'm sure it'll work, but I think you can definitely get by with just hand-to-hand stuff alone."

Riley furrowed his brows in confusion before letting out a small sigh. "I guess you're right. You'd know more about this than I would, after all."

_ "Bull! She's the one who thought a good test was telling you to snatch a pebble from her hand. She knows nothing!" _

'She never even swore when she was alive!' the hybrid thought angrily.

"Well, I think you're starting to get the hang of it," the girl said nervously. "I'm sure if you keep practicing, you'll have it down by the time I get back."

"...Wait, what?" the tall boy halted his katas and turned to face the girl with a bewildered look. "What do you mean by that? Are you meeting Tetsuo and Morio for something?"

"N-No, I'm actually gonna be out for a week…" the ghoulette said nervously. "I have to go with Neko, the twins, and Kosshi to deal with a few things, one is going to take maybe a day or two to deal with," Meiko rubbed the back of her neck as she turned away from the boy. "I think I can get Tetsuo or Moriomi to check on you to make sure-"

"Uh, no!" a voice cut her off.

The two turned to the entrance to the chamber, finding the redhead and dark-haired teen in question entering, followed by Kentetsu. All three of them carried small backpacks, all full of only the bare essentials for a short trip. The plum-haired girl blinked at them owlishly as Moriomi sighed.

"Remember when I mentioned a month ago that I was heading to the 13th Ward? Y'know, to pick up a friend and bring them down here, cause they got some heat on them."

Meiko sweatdropped at this, an unsteady grimace spreading across her face.

"Yeah, you remember that, right Mei-chan? I was right there when I volunteered to go with. Kenta here said...wrote that he wanted to come too, so…" Tetsuomi trailed off with a shrug.

The plum-haired girl sulked at their words. "I'm trying to deal with that Crab guy, I've got nobody to watch him."

"Watch who?"

The five in the chamber blinked as the rest of the group walked into the chamber. The cat-girl happily skipped into the room, stopping in front of the half-ghoul with a curious glance. Behind her, Kinuyo listened as the three boys explained the situation.

"Listen, I get that you're worried about your friend, but there's gotta be something we can do about this," the blonde motioned to the tall boy. "He can't be by himself."

"What, you can't take him to deal with King Crab?"

"Can we take him to deal with a murderous kakuja that enjoys eating other ghouls, when one-eyes are 'supposedly' really tasty?" Kosshi asked sardonically. "Gee I dunno. I mean, I'm not a fan of the kid but even I have standards."

"Ok, maybe a fair point, but I think he could be fine," Moriomi offered nervously. "He's not an idiot, if you tell him to run away he'll...charge in the opposite direction to buy everybody else time. Ok, bleeding heart aside-"

"Noroi was also poking around the edges of the Green Zone a week ago," Meiko said contemplatively. "I was gonna see what he was up to, maybe finally ask him about-"

"Wait, _the Noroi_?" Kosshi asked slowly, a wild grin spreading across her face at Kinuyo's nervous nod. "Oh fuck the hell yes! I finally get to find that shitty little brat and give her payback for what she did last year-"

"Eto wasn't with him," Meiko deadpanned.

"SON OF A BITCH!"

Riley looked back and forth between the conversation, furrowing his brows in thought. "Is it because I'm a boy? Because you guys," he motioned to the group his surrogate sister was going with. "Are all girls. If that's why, then I'm sorry-"

"Riley, I'm a boy!" Kinunao said loudly.

"I dunno, you're looking especially feminine today," the tall brunette said sarcastically.

"Listen here you!"

The half-ghoul shrunk nervously as a new argument began between the tall girl and the blonde. He cupped a hand to his chin as he contemplated the situation, looking back to his caretaker and the dark-haired teen thoughtfully.

'Eto...I think that was what Moriomi was gonna say that one time before nee-san stopped him. Maybe I'll ask about her later…' the tall preteen furrowed his brows in frustration. 'I can't figure out a way to fix this.'

_"Well, the obvious solution would be to run away to another part of the tunnels and go on a murder spree,"_ a dark and almost familiar voice said in the back of his head. _"You and I just know that we haven't eaten in a while. You really should try a binge or something."_

The hybrid shivered at this. 'No, I don't want that! That's horrible!'

Riley's shoulders slunk as he tried to ignore the cacophony of voices screaming in his head before backing up slightly. He turned to the illusionary girl with a curious expression, his mind seeming to beckon her over.

_"What would you do?"_ he whispered.

_ "Well, I guess I'd see if I could go with one of them. Although, these kakuja thingies sound scary…" _

'...She's right, I could just go with them,' the half-ghoul walked forward and shakily held a hand up. "Uh, hey! Maybe I could go with Morio? It'd be nice to get out of the tunnels for just a bit."

The rest of the group froze, halting any arguments completely as they turned to face the boy with wide eyes. While the all boys group stared at him with uncertainty, the others seemed to have reactions mixed between bemusement and bewilderment.

Meiko started towards the boy with a terrified expression. _"How could you even suggest that?!"_ the plum-haired girl quickly glomped the poor preteen to the ground as anime-esque tears fell from her eyes. _"Are you insane?!"_

_"Yeah baby brother, how could you suggest that?"_ the phantom danced towards him with a cheerful expression. _"Remember that time mom was talking to big brother about the 13th Ward, and you listened in? You'd get raped, killed, and eaten there, and probably not even in that order."_

'YOU'RE THE ONE WHO SUGGESTED I DO IT!' the half-ghoul screamed within his own mind. 'Also, that's just ridiculous! Not everybody thinks that about the Shibuya Ward-'

_"You could get raped, killed, and eaten if you go there, and it doesn't even have to be in that order!"_ the bespectacled girl cried out in between sobs as she pressed the boy's face into her chest.

'Ok that's _one_ person!' the hybrid thought, blushing at the girl's clinginess, as well as the fact he was being pushed into her very generous bust. 'Must keep hands on ground…must...find way...to breathe…'

"Uh, Mei...you sure you should be suffocating him like that?" Tetsuomi asked nervously.

The plum-haired girl looked back to the redhead in confusion, then to her surrogate brother. She stared down at the tall boy, before gently removing herself from his person with a sheepish expression.

"S-Sorry about that…"

"You know, any of that could have happened to me down here," the hybrid deadpanned.

"What? No, you're safe down here!" Meiko cried out. "This is the safest place you could be-"

"Remember a few weeks ago how Tetsuo bit a guys face off?"

The redhead let out a surprised cough. "Holy shit, you remember that?"

"I do. You did it in one bite too, like that asshole owl from the Tootsie Pop commercials back home," the tall boy's face fell at the many confused looks he received. "It's this candy humans eat back in America, and there's an owl in the commercials that...Look, it doesn't matter. The point is, I'm not gonna die if I leave this place for more than a day."

Meiko looked back and forth between the half-ghoul and the three boys heading to Shibuya. The girl adjusted her glasses before tilting her head towards Moriomi.

"How long will you be in the 13th?"

"At worst, it'd take a full week. My friend needs to transfer from high school and find an alternative," the dark-haired boy scratched his chin nervously. "But, if we can get a deal with the principle, that should get started by the end of the week."

The plum-haired girl looked between Riley and Kentetsu for a few seconds before letting out a short sigh. "Okay, I guess that'll be fine, since Kenta knows english. I'll have to make sure you can still work on Japanese," Meiko looked back to the half-ghoul with a strained smile. "You'll also need a change of clothes, some food, maybe a disguise just in case."

"Alright!" the tall boy cried out, jumping into the air slightly with a fist pump. It was only a second or so after his outburst that he recognized the awkward stares from the others. "Um...ehehe…"

Meiko let out a short chuckle before gently pulling the boy along with her. "C'mon, let's get you packed…"

* * *

Riley looked towards the slightly cracked mirror he and his caretaker shared, inspecting himself and his outfit. Currently, the half-ghoul wore a plus-sized flannel shirt and sweatpants, both clearly patched up from different rips and tears in the fabric. The boy pulled a medical eyepatch from his pocket and gently affixed it to his right eye.

_"I like it…"_

_"Yeah, I know! We really lucked out in finding some of these clothes,"_ the girl said cheerfully as she helped pack his extra set of clothes. _"I guess bears aren't always bad news after all, considering how these were still mostly intact."_

_"I dunno, I still had to sew it a bit,"_ the half-ghoul's nose flared up as the girl packed a box of wrapped food into his bag. The boy grabbed a few choice books from his personal trunk and pushed them into his pack. _"So, what do you know about this friend of Morio's?"_

_"Eh, the usual. Childhood friend, practically raised as siblings after his parents died, swore to protect each other when things went south,"_ the plum-haired girl shrugged blithely. _"I've read about it a bunch of times in old romance novels."_

The hybrid's face morphed into a mask of confusion before settling for a few seconds. _"So, who's Eto?"_

Meiko stumbled just a bit as she faced the boy, audibly gulping at his curious expression. The girl turned away from the boy as a grimace spread across her face.

_"It's...complicated…"_ the ghoulette said nervously.

_"How so?"_

_"Eto is...like you-and me,"_ the girl quickly added the last part. _"She's around your age, maybe a year younger. I don't know the full story, just that she's been in the tunnels since before she could walk, with a guy who only keeps her alive and doesn't do much to raise her."_

_"That...doesn't really sound like me and you."_

_"I know, there's not much parallels there. The reason I said that is because she's hiding, like you are...and like me, cause I'm also hiding,"_ the ghoulette held a hand to her face in exasperation. _"The problem is that since she's been down here for so long, she doesn't act like a sane person. Kosshi would tell you she's a psychopath, but it's really just that she hasn't ever really had enough real social interactions with others."_

_"There aren't other ghouls around her?"_

_"Only the ones you wouldn't want to meet,"_ Meiko sighed at the boy's disgusted face. _"Yeah, you already know how that would work out. She doesn't trust anybody, and she's so consumed in anger and loneliness that her only response to anything is to lash out. I feel like...she wants somebody to help her, who can understand her. Maybe she wants her father, but that's a dead end if there ever was one."_

A solemn expression spread across Riley's face as he cupped a hand to his chin. _"If she's been here since before she could walk...whatever happened to cause it, it wasn't her fault, right?"_ the preteen gave his caretaker a curious look. _"There's still a chance for her to change everything, isn't there? To be saved?"_

Meiko looked at the boy blankly before sighing. _"Have you ever heard the saying 'you don't get to choose the hand you're dealt with'?"_

The tall hybrid's eyes grew cold at this. _"My brother loved to say it a lot."_

_"Ok, well he was probably just fucking with you, but there's a point to the saying. You can't always prepare for everything, there are just some things that are out of your control,"_ the girl's shoulders slunk. _"Like how I forgot that I had to deal with a dangerous kakuja, and didn't take time to find somebody who could watch my adopted brother. That's one example…"_ the ghoulette flinched at the boy's dejected look. _"N-Not that I blame you for that or anything. It's like I said, couldn't have seen this coming, right?"_

_"Yeah, I gotcha...wait!"_ the boy leaned forward with a nervous grimace. _"What if I need a mask-"_

The hybrid blinked as the girl deposited a folded black cloth into his hand. The boy unfolded it, finding that it was a ski mask that would cover the lower half of his face. He looked at the girl with an owlish expression.

_"I know you don't wanna use your mom's mask just yet,"_ Meiko said gently, giving him a soft smile. _"I have plenty of spares anyway, so it's fine if you keep it."_

_"I...thanks, nee-chan,"_ the hybrid gently pocketed the fabric before turning to leave. _"I think they're getting anxious waiting for me. Good luck with this…'kakuja' thing."_

_"You be careful otouto! Keep a low profile in the 13th, and make sure to practice your kanji and katas."_

_"Yes mam!"_

Several minutes after he had left, a bead of dropped from the girl's brow. "Holy shit...thank god he didn't push on that Eto thing…" Meiko froze slightly as her eyes widened. "Oh dammit! I should have told him to cover his eye when he's wearing his mask...oh well, hopefully that won't cause too many problems…"

* * *

**Shibuya ward, Tokyo**

_ "Oooh! So this is Shibuya? It's really nice, I don't get what all the hoopla is about." _

Riley ignored the phantom's commentary as he followed the two teens. Both of them seemed to be in an ever escalating argument, the redhead holding up a map of the ward while pointing to several spots on it and gesticulating wildly. The hybrid sweatdropped at the illusion's loud giggling.

_ "Wow, they're really going at it, huh? To be honest, I thought they'd be more entertaining." _

The boy gritted his teeth before turning away from the apparition. Nearby, he saw Kentetsu giving him a concerned glance. The mute preteen dug into his pockets and pulled out a pen and notepad, furiously writing down on it before presenting it to the taller boy.

'You alright?' was hastily scribbled in english.

The hybrid chewed the inside of his cheek at this. "I'm fine, just...I haven't been up on the surface a lot since I came to the tunnels," blue eyes scanned the area around the group, worriedly assessing every possible threat. "I'm still a bit nervous, since there's a bunch of rumors about this ward."

'Its not that bad,' the mute boy wrote.

"It doesn't seem like it...also, I think you forgot an apostra-thing I think," the boy pointed out anxiously.

Kentetsu tilted his head before furiously correcting the written words. The half-ghoul turned away from the other boy, watching the sparse amount of humans walking down the street, his nose catching the scent of the many ghouls hidden within the crowd. When he turned back to the mute boy, he stumbled a bit at finding the dark-haired preteen facing an alleyway.

"What do you mean you 'don't know where they are'? Didn't you contact them first?"

"I didn't know because shit is hitting the fan here!" Moriomi gesticulated wildly towards the air around them. "They brought some guy from the fucking sunlit garden!"

"The fucking garden?!" Tetsuomi whisper-yelled. "We brought the two kids with us! Why didn't you ever mention that?!"

Riley turned away from the two arguing teens, finding that Kentetsu was already starting down the ominous alleyway. The boy gaped in shock, then his expression morphed as the scent of blood caused his nose to twitch. Beside him, the phantom giggled.

_ "Oh! Smells like somebody's getting murdered back there. Can we go check it out baby brother? Pwease?" _

The hybrid ignored the apparition's cutsey pout as he watched the mute boy trek through the alley. The silver-haired preteen bit his lip as a shiver ran through him, a nauseous feeling spreading through his stomach as the quiet boy neared the corner at the end of the narrow path. Finally, the tall boy let out a short sigh before slowly following Kentetsu.

'I'll only go to make sure he doesn't get hurt,' Riley thought nervously.

_"Yay! Let's go see a dead body!"_ the phantom cried out cheerfully.

Riley sweatdropped at the illusionary girl's elation, electing to continue ignoring her as he followed the mute boy. When he had caught up, the other preteen acknowledged him for a few seconds before continuing down the narrow lane. The tall boy looked over his shoulder every few seconds as they went further in, the queasy feeling in his gut growing every second.

The sight of a freshly maimed human body on the ground, while gruesome, was easily predictable. The tall boy backed away in a lax slouch at the sight before him, furrowing his brows in annoyance.

'What a big surprise…' the silver-haired preteen thought.

_"It actually is kinda shocking. Sure it's a bit shredded and stuff, but it's not as bad as you'd expect…"_ the apparition leaned forward with a sickening smile. _"Look! If this were really somebody's meal, there'd be more holes and stuff."_

Seeing some truth to the illusions words caused the boy to pale. "K-Kenta-san, this is probably someone else's. We should get goin-"

Riley was cut off when two bluish tendrils speared towards him, slamming into his chest and gut and knocking the wind out of him. As the half-ghoul was flung into a nearby wall, a second pair of blue tentacles pounded into the mute boy, knocking him to the ground. When the two looked up, a scruffy looking ghoul with dark hair and a stubby face was smiling down cruelly at them.

"This is a nice surprise. I was hoping I'd lure those two idiots you were hangin' with, but oh well…" the scruffy ghoul pulled the tall boy up by his bright hair. "You're pretty tall for a brat...guess that's just a thing with you gai-ko, huh?" the ghoul sniffed Riley experimentally, curling his nose up before roughly slamming his head back into the wall. "You smell pretty off too. Maybe you foreigners really do smell like shit."

"W-We're sorry! We're just in the ward looking for a friend," the hybrid said desperately. "We didn't want to cause any problems-"

The ghoul cut him off by slamming a fist straight at the boy's throat, temporarily cutting off his air flow. The man then grabbed the boy's neck and lifted him into the air, a vicious snarl tugging at the corners of his mouth.

"I don't give a shit what you dumbasses are up to! You're all walking around on my turf, and I don't let anybody get off free for that…" the ruffian growled as he attempted to push the tall hybrid into the stone wall. "Trespassing on somebody else's territory...that's like _fucking_ another man's mother," the feral man leaned towards the silver-haired boy's face with a growl. "Are you trying to _fuck_ my mother?!"

"W-What?!" Riley winced as the pressure increased around his throat. "I have no idea what you're talking about! What kind of creepy analogy is that?! I can't answer something like that!"

"Oh? Are you saying my mother isn't good enough to be _fucked_ by you, you gaijin brat?!"

"I-I never said anything! Please just let me go you maniac!"

"You little shit! My mother was a saint!"

"Ok, what the fresh hell is this?!"

The half-ghoul let out a relieved gasp as he spotted Tetsuomi and Moriomi approaching the deranged ghoul from behind. The redhead narrowed his eyes at the man and released his rinkaku kagune, five blood red tentacles that looked like long feathery tails with smaller wispy tendrils swaying alongside them. The teen's kagune curled forward as his glare at the ghoul intensified.

"Oh good! You two finally decided to show up," the scruffy ghoul threw the hybrid to the ground roughly. "I was kinda in the middle of something though, and it's not very nice to interrupt...butting in when somebody is doing something important...that's like fucking another man's mother," the feral man crouched down like a wild animal, a snarl twitching at the corners of his lips. "Are you trying to _fuck_ my mothe-"

"I'm gonna eat your fucking hand," Tetsuomi said boredly.

"...W-What?"

The redhead sped forward faster than the ghoul could register, slamming a fist into his chest and thrusting his rinkaku forward. Even when the man was flung into a nearby wall, the redhead didn't let up, quickly charging towards him and slamming the flat of his foot into the ghoul's throat. While the scruffy ghoul made a strangled noise, Tetsuomi grabbed his right hand and squeezed hard, causing audible cracks, then twisting abruptly.

"GAAAAAH! YOU FUCKING ASSHOLE!" the man cried out, clutching the stump where his hand had been. The scruffy ghoul went pale green as the redhead began chewing on his severed hand. "Fucking psycho! Do you creeps live in the 24th ward or something?!"

"Uh, yeah actually," Tetsuomi leaned forward at the thug's terrified expression.

The redhead flattened his right hand and jabbed straight into the ghoul's shoulder, pinning the man to the wall. Behind him, Moriomi helped the two preteens to their feet, both of the younger boys staring at their attacker with blank glares.

Tetsuomi bit into a chunk of the severed hand, mockingly rolling it around between his teeth before swallowing. "Listen up, jackass! You're gonna etch this into your fucking skull, no matter what, and I'm not gonna repeat myself!" the redhead's hand dug further into the ghoul's shoulder. "None of us give a fuck about your whole turf bs. We're just here to grab a friend and get going, and honestly after this, I should really just kill you and be done with it," the teen pulled away from the ghoul and turned to leave. "I think we can let it slide once. Bother us again and you'll become our next meal..."

Riley let out a pained grunt as the cracks in his ribs sealed themselves up. The hybrid allowed the mute boy to lean on him while his back healed. Nearby, Moriomi tried his best to bore a hole into the thug with his hateful glare. The dark-haired teen clicked his teeth before turning to help the two boys.

As they left the alleyway, the tall boy cringed when he noticed Tetsuo wolfing down the severed hand. The redhead flinched at the incredulous stares from the others, swallowing the last bits before giving them a sheepish smile.

"W-What? I was hungry…"

"You could have just saved it for later," the half-ghoul said quietly.

The redhead turned away with an unsteady smile. "Hehe...well...I mean...I forgot…" Tetsuomi looked back to the dark-haired teen curiously. "Alright, what now?"

"Well, asshole back there will probably tell everybody and their mothers about us by the end of the day, so we'll need to sneak around for a bit," Morio flinched as the preteens averted their gazes. "N-Not that I'm blaming you two or anything. Like I said, guy was an asshole, and we didn't see this coming," he cupped a hand to his chin in thought. "Best plan of action? Put on our masks and scour the ward while keeping a low profile. If I know my friend, they'll be on the most conspicuous tall building looming over the most conspicuous back end street…"

* * *

**Shibuya ward, Tokyo**

**Sunset**

"Damn brats! I'll kill you!"

***CRAAAACK***

The ghoul fell backwards with a caved in skull, the last vestiges of life leaving as it twitched on the ground. Standing over it was an orange-haired teen wearing a school uniform, his weapon, a bat with nails embedded into it, slung over his shoulder.

"That was better than expected. I didn't even need to bring out Yukimura."

The boy turned his blank gaze away from the downed ghoul to look at his partner. Behind him was a bespectacled schoolboy with dark blue hair. Already the other boy was closing up his guitar case and hauling it onto his back. The bluenette pulled out a mechanical brick of a cell phone and began dialing.

"Moshi Moshi? It's me...yes, the target has been taken care of. A-rated, rinkaku type, for collection," the bespectacled boy tilted his head. "Right, of course Marude-san...it's in between...very well then…" the teen ended the call and looked to his partner. "Fura, we need to get moving."

The other boy stared at the dead ghoul as blood pooled beneath it. "Y-Yeah, sure thing Kohai…"

The blue-haired boy noticed his partner's unease. "Is everything alright, Senpai?"

"Yeah, I'm good...does it feel like we're being watched?"

"Oh, yes we're definitely being watched."

"Wait, what?!" the older teen cried out. "Why are you so calm about that?!"

"They ones watching us do not plan on fighting us," the bespectacled teen said nonchalantly. "They're gathering information, so that they can pass it around the ward…"

The orange-haired boy clenched his fists. "D-Do you think _that_ guy is watching?"

"Maybe, maybe not. _If_ he is, it's doubtful that he plans on confronting us any time soon," the blue-haired boy adjusted his glasses and tilted his head in contemplation. "It's best that we get going, otherwise we'll be fighting to not sleep in class tomorrow."

"W-We don't have class tomorrow, Kohai…"

"Oh...right…"

Several meters away, a masked figure sat at the top of a building, watching the two as they left. Once they were gone, they stood to their full height, turning their head back and forth cautiously to survey the area. A long pink, lizard-like tail flicked back and forth behind them like a cats.

"They're making things pretty interesting around here…" the ghoul tilted their head as a low chuckle echoed from within their mask. "I wonder if I should make the first move or not...how would I even-"

The ghoul was cut off as a pair of reddish-brown tendrils wrapped around their arm and leg, lifting them several feet into the air. The masked ghoul flailed about as their remaining limbs were pinned into inescapable grasps, their kagune made completely immobile. As they were dragged towards their attacker, the ghoul's eyes widened at the sight of a familiar face.

"M-Morio-kun?"

"Figured I'd find you on one of these eventually," the dark-haired teen drawled out. "Also, what's with disguising your voice like that? Sounds like you're trying to be one of those B-movie villains."

"Dammit Morio, what the hell do you want?!"

"I'm getting you out of the ward," he said flatly. "You have a week to get your shit in order before I bring you to the tunnels with me."

"Fuck off! I don't need your help! And I'm not living in the 24th!"

Moriomi took a deep breath before setting them with a fierce glare. "I made a promise, and I'm gonna keep it, damn it!"

As the dark-haired teen argued with the masked ghoul, two winged shapes flew into the air from behind him and quietly landed on the roof. Tetsuomi dispelled his fiery ukaku wings and walked forward, the mute boy next to him sheathing his own ukaku kagune in response. The redhead flinched as he heard stone cracking behind him, and turned to see several large reptilian hands clawing into the edge of the roof. Riley quickly pulled himself up with his branching kagune before dispelling it, visibly out of breath from the climb.

"Oh shit, we...we forgot you couldn't fly," Tetsuo's shoulders slunk as the tall boy gave him a flat glare.

The tall boy adjusted his eyepatch before tilting his head in Moriomi's direction. "That other guy...his voice is so…"

"I know right! _Ahh, hasuta ra bisuta, baby!_" the teen smirked at his broken english. "Seriously, sounds like one of those movie tough guys from the west...no offense."

The half-ghoul ignored the redhead as he scrutinized the dark-haired teen's childhood friend. They wore a long brown trench coat, with tattered blak fabric around their collar. They had no discernable features, courtesy of their seemingly cumbersome mask. The hybrid cringed as their head sagged at the weight of the thing.

_ "Pfft! Look at that thing, it's ridiculous! Who wears  ** that ** on their head?" _

Riley's mouth twitched at the phantom's words. "Why are they wearing a pumpkin on their head?"

"HAHA! Oh shit, you're right!" Tetsuomi let out a hollering laugh. "That thing looks ridiculous!"

The pumpkin-masked ghoul tilted their head at them. "Morio, who the fuck are they?"

"Friends from the tunnels."

"They're pissing me off…"

"Pfft! Are you sure that's not because of your mask? You look like a bad Halloween monster."

"Screw you! This is intimidating!"

"No, it looks fucking stupid," the redhead drawled out. "It looks like the Great Pumpkin finally got out of the pumpkin patch, and he looked like a fruit!"

Riley sweatdropped at this. "P-Pumpkins _are_ fruit, Tetsuo."

"...Oh, really?"

"Yes...also, how do you know about the Great Pumpkin?"

"Well, you see-"

"Fuck all of you!" the masked ghoul cried out.

"You're not really endearing us to helping you, buddy," Tetsuo chided.

"Are...are you using a voice changer thing?" the half-ghoul asked nervously.

"Che, a voice changer? Where would I find those?!"

"I saw one at a corner store earlier for about ¥600. The doves don't actually mark them down."

"...I feel like a dumbass," the masked ghoul whined, their voice now completely different. "I've had to deal with sore throats for years for fucks sake!"

"That voice…" the redhead whispered. "It couldn't be…"

"Minami, would you take that thing off?" Moriomi said in exasperation. "I can't take you seriously when you wear it."

The masked ghoul let out an annoyed grumble before pulling the jack-o-lantern off their head. Long, luscious locks of clean and shiny dark-brown hair fell out, framing a soft and feminine face with gorgeous doe-eyes.

"You're a girl?!" Tetsuomi cried out.

"Why the hell does that matter?"

The redhead turned to Moriomi with a wild expression. "You didn't tell me they were a girl!"

"You...never actually asked."

"Does boss-lady know?"

"She knows because she asked."

"This is gonna be so weird, I-"

"Before you even _think_ about hitting on her, she's like a sister to me. I will have to kick your ass first."

Tetsuomi chewed the inside of his cheek nervously. "Wasn't even gonna try it, I promise."

The girl looked at her childhood friend with a disappointed look before sighing. "So, they're all from the tunnels huh?" her nose flared up as she scoffed. "Not a big surprise, they all smell like dirt...now, turn around and leave, all of you," the doe-eyed girl sneered at the dark-haired boy. "I'm not going to the 24th, you can't-"

"The doves are after you."

"I can handle the doves!"

"Not if you're suddenly 'Public Enemy #1'! You killed people, you didn't even eat most of them!"

"So what?! They deserved it!"

"What do you mean 'deserved'?" Moriomi let out a low growl. "What is this about?"

Minami's lips trembled as she nearly fell to her knees. "It's...it's none of your damn business!"

The dark-haired boy let out a sigh before holding a hand out towards the girl. "Come on, I'll take you home-"

"No! I'm not going to the tunnels! I still haven't finished school, I need-"

"I wasn't talking about the tunnels! What, do you live in a sewer up here?"

"N-No, I have an apartment…"

"Then I'll escort you home...w-we'll escort you home, I guess," Moriomi turned back to the rest of his group. "Pull up your masks until we get close, got it!"

* * *

Minami squirmed in place as the four boys stood in her apartment, all staring at her. Her childhood friend stood just a few feet in front of her, looking at her in concern. The redhead stood behind him nervously, bouncing on the balls of his feet. Behind them, the two younger boys stood awkwardly, the quiet one swallowing nervously every other minute, while the taller strange-smelling foreign boy glanced around nervously.

"So...here it is…" the girl motioned to the inside of her apartment. "You guys can take a seat if you want."

"Ah, nah we're good," Tetsuomi said shyly. "I mean, we wouldn't want to just-"

"Take a seat damn it!"

"Yes ma'am!" the redhead quickly darted to the table near the kitchen and sat down.

"You two as well," the girl pointed to the two preteens. "I have a couch for a reason."

The quiet boy let out a short sigh at the hybrid's meek sputtering before pulling him along to the couch. Minami furrowed her brows at the two once they were sat, then turned to her childhood friend with a harsh gaze.

"So what, we're just gonna talk this out?" the girl leaned forward with an annoyed glare. "I don't need your help."

"Again, I made a promise, and I intend to keep it."

"My parents...they're dead," the doe-eyed girl gritted out. "You don't need to do anything for them."

"It's not just for them," the dark-haired boy clicked his teeth at her floored expression. "I...I don't want to lose you. I don't want to come up here to check on you one day only to find out you're…" he trailed off with a sharp hiss. "I wouldn't be able to stand myself if I knew I could have prevented that."

Minami's expression softened slightly at this, though she still pointed an accusatory finger. "And what's so bad that you had to come?"

"Some guy from the Sunlit Garden," Tetsuomi answered blithely. When the redhead noticed the girl's confused look, he elaborated. "The Sunlit Garden is this super secret compound owned by the Washuu Clan, and only the Washuu Clan. They use it to personally raise and train ghoul hunters, among other things," the teen hissed disdainfully. "Some of the kids from there are even from the Clan themselves."

"So what, just a better trained CCG dog?"

"Actually, he's some sort of mutant with superhuman abilities," Tetsuomi snorted at the girl's incredulous look. "What, you think I'm joking? 'Cause I'm not. We're talking about a bunch of psychos that kill innocent humans in secret for trying to get us rights, and they have all sorts of shady deals with the criminal underworld. They _have_ mutant teenagers, and they know how to misuse them."

"D-Don't you mean 'know how to use them'?"

"I know what I said," the redhead chuckled.

The girl turned back to her childhood friend with a downcast expression. "So what, you're crawling out of the tunnels to save me just like the last time?"

"Oh, it's not like I'm the one getting into trouble all the time!"

"I didn't have a choic-"

"You did! You could have just left them alone and kept to yourself!" Moriomi snorted hotly as he took a step towards the girl. "You're coming to the 24th with us, no arguments! Do you understand?"

"...What about school?"

The dark-haired teen let out a gruff sigh. "I'm not against giving you a week to get everything in order. If you need it, maybe a bit more, but we have to leave before the doves come crashing down on you."

"But I want to go to school! I _want_ to graduate, be a doctor, have a normal life!"

"Wait until the school year ends. I can see if we can get into a Juku-"

"Cram school?! You want me to go to cram school?!" the doe-eyed girl screeched. "I said I wanted to be _normal_, not whatever...that is!"

"You can't exactly be normal when you go around murdering people," Moriomi said sardonically.

The girl clicked her teeth at this. "Damn it...whatever…"

"Does this complex have any spots open?"

"Y-You're leaving?"

"You don't want me here after all, so-"

"No, that's not what I meant, I just…" Minami turned away shyly. "You know I wouldn't turn you away, Morio-kun. It's just, I'm not really sure about…" the girl motioned to the other three boys.

"Wow, you really don't mince words," Tetsuomi said. "Lemme guess, is it because Riley is white?"

"That has nothing to do with it!" the girl cried out.

Moriomi snorted before placing a hand on the girl's shoulder. "Relax, they're all fine...Tetsuo here is just your run of the mill dumbass-"

"Love you too, man!"

"And these two are just kids," the dark-haired teen motioned to the two boys on the couch. "Kentetsu is mute, so you won't get much from him, unless he writes stuff down. Riley is uh...well, he mostly just keeps to himself."

"Are you sure he's a kid?" the doe-eyed girl walked over to the tall boy and scrutinized him. "He's pretty tall for a brat…"

"I can understand you, you know…" the boy said slowly with a soft voice.

"Interesting…"

"Oh, the height thing, _that's_ because he's white!" the redhead snorted at the incredulous looks from them. "Okay, maybe that was too far, but whatever. He's got this condition that makes him tall."

"But you're sure he's a kid?" the girl asked.

"He's eleven, says so on his birth certificate," Moriomi drawled out.

"...You have a birth certificate?" Minami asked the boy.

"I'm just as surprised as anybody else," the tall boy said shyly.

The doe-eyed girl blinked owlishly before shaking her head. "Ok, whatever, I'll ask more on that later. I have two guest rooms you can stay in, and only 3 sleeping bags," Minami turned to the dark-haired teen and the redhead with a sly grin. "So it looks like you two are gonna have to share."

"A-Aww, fuck me!" Tetsuomi growled.

Moriomi sweatdropped at this. "I'd rather not, thanks…"

"That's not what I meant-"

"And I'm going to say this _once_, so don't forget," a murderous expression spread across the girl's face as she gave the three unknown boys a bone-chilling glare. "If any of you steal from my stash of human meat, there will be consequences...understand?"

The three now pale boys nodded quickly while shaking in place. The girl motioned for them to stand up before beckoning her childhood friend over.

"You and your butt-buddy will be in the room on the left," the girl motioned to Moriomi and the redhead.

"We're not-"

"You kids, the room on the right is for you," the doe-eyed girl motioned to the two preteens. "I'll go grab your sleeping bags, go and get settled in."

As the girl charged towards her room, her childhood friend let out a quiet sigh. The dark-haired boy turned to the others with a sheepish smile.

"I...I know she seems a bit abrasive, but she's a good person, I promise," Moriomi grabbed the redhead by the shoulder and began pulling him to their shared guest room. "Come on, let's get ready for bed."

"At least kiss me first, why don't ya?"

"Tetsuo, don't even start with that!"

The half-ghoul sweatdropped as the two argued, before following Kentetsu to their own temporary room. The boys were treated to the sight of a rather standard room, with two end tables and accompanying lamps. The two gently set their packs down at the end of the room before staring at the spots where beds might be.

A few minutes later, the doe-eyed girl walked in, visibly struggling with the two large sleeping bags she held. Riley looked on for a few seconds before letting out a short sigh and walking up to her.

"Here, let me help you with these."

"Oh, umm...t-thanks," the ghoulette shrunk nervously as the silver-haired boy gently took the bedrolls from her. "Uh...so, you speak japanese really well."

"Not as well as I'd like, to be honest."

_"And you still think in english!"_ the phantom chimed in from beside him.

He ignored the apparition and held a hand out to the girl. "My name is Riley...Moriomi already said that, but I figured I should introduce myself."

"Rairī, huh?" The girl fumbled over the strange syllables for a few seconds before shaking her head. She then tentatively took his hand into hers. "My name is Minami Uruka, but I go by my family name most of the time. It's nice to meet you, I guess…" the doe-eyed girl trailed off as she looked to Kentetsu. "Can he really not talk?"

"He grunts a lot, and he has a notepad," Riley tilted his head as the quiet boy pulled out said notepad and quickly wrote down an introduction. "He's okay with being called Kenta though."

Minami gave the mute preteen a nervous smile. "It's nice to meet you, Kenta."

The quiet boy smiled back with a low hum and gave the girl a short nod, before taking the bedroll the half-ghoul was offering him. Riley turned back to the ghoulette with a kind smile, flinching as she shrunk back just a bit.

_ "Ooooh! She seems really nervous...she must not do well around kids, I'm guessing." _

"So, I have some things to work over with Morio-kun. I...I know I said not to eat any of my food, but I'd feel bad if you guys went all this way."

Riley's face fell slightly at this. "Y-You don't really need to do that. We have food just in case-"

"Shush! I'm treating you all to a nice dinner, be ready in an hour alright!" the girl swallowed nervously before leaving the room.

The hybrid sweatdropped. "This is gonna be a long week, huh?"

Kentetsu gave him a benumbed expression and nodded, then began preparing his bedroll. The tall boy did the same, sitting down and pulling out a book once he was finished.

'There's still a bunch of stuff they aren't telling me...that girl that nee-san mentioned, she's kept dancing around that the whole time…" the half-ghoul furrowed his brows as he tried to focus on the tale of Wesley and his quest to reunite with Buttercup, his true love. 'Morio still acts all funny when I bring up that statue thing...and nobody tells me what a kakuja is…'

Riley let out a quiet sigh as he looked to the ceiling. 'I guess it's just something to deal with when we get back home…'

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For those wondering, the 'Oedipus-ish' ghoul is based on "Tokyo Ghoul Abridged".


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The rewrite here was just grammar and story flow. There's a "dream" portion on the versions at FF.Net and Spacebattles, but I left it out here because the context doesn't fully exist, at least until I decide to port my other two stories over.

**Vasuki base, Unknown Location, Tokyo**

Eric looked around the meeting room cooly, fighting down every ounce of anxiety stirring within him. Several feet away, Kaiko stood in front of a canvas while trying to get the projector running, even as more agents began filing in by the minute. As one of the junior agents took a seat next to him, the half-ghoul did everything he could to hold his poker face.

"Hey, you're the one-eye, right?" the trenchcoat-clad teen next to the tall boy sent him a wild smirk. "Yeah, I've heard about you. You handled all those contracts around Kanagawa, right?"

"Uh, yeah, Kaiko-sensei and I were handling a bunch of cleaner jobs in Yamato and Yokohama."

"That's crazy! Saitou-sama and I were in Machida handling a bunch of acquisition contracts for the garden," the young agent held his hand towards out towards the hybrid. "I'm Keita! It's nice to meet you!"

"Uh...I'm Eric. It's nice to meet you too, I guess," the giant tentatively took the other's hand in his own.

"Eric, huh? Yeah, I heard you were a westerner...so, what do you think this meeting is about anyway?"

"Who knows?" Eric replied coolly. "It's supposed to be an annual thing though, so it's probably something of a training exercise."

"Oh, I think you know exactly what's going on," a new voice said with amusement.

The half-ghoul craned his neck to face the speaker, finding himself looking at a truly senior agent. While he was wearing the common garb of all V agents, and stood with a straight posture and intimidating gait, it was clear that he was nearing his twilight years. His mirthful smile was surrounded by wrinkles, and there were visible bags beneath his eyes.

"S-Saitou-sama...what is this about?" Keita asked the elderly agent.

"If I had to guess, it's the annual search for the brat…" Saitou glanced to Eric from the corner of his eye. "You already knew, didn't you?" when the giant said nothing, the old man leaned forward with a suspicious squint. "In fact, you know more than we do, is that right? What was the information you found, Jameson?"

Eric looked up as his partner finally got the projector working, and motioned to him. "I'd go ahead and ask Kaiko-sensei when he starts up."

Saitou frowned and attempted to pry, only to be cut off by the white-eyed man in question clearing his throat as he faced the agents in the room. When Kaiko noticed that very few of them had noticed, he cleared his throat again, this time much louder. The agents all silenced themselves and turned to him, eliciting a smile from the assassin.

"Well, now that we're all settled and everything is working...good morning everyone!" Kaiko's grin expanded as he surveyed the room. He turned to the projector and grabbed the remote. "Since everybody is here, I think it's alright if we get started."

He clicked to the first slide, a basic map of the 24th ward. The white-eyed man frowned slightly as murmurs began washing over the group. "For those of you that are new, or decided they'd selectively forget about it, it's _that_ time of year again," a deadpan expression sat across his face as several groans erupted into the air. "Ok, ok! I get it, it's always annoying to deal with this...this year it's going to be different though, we promise. We have _new_ information regarding our mark...as well as a _secondary_ target within the tunnels."

"What do you mean '_new_ information'? How is it gonna be different from the last time?"

"Why, I'm glad you asked, Random Agent sitting in the back."

"My name is-"

"You see, when my new partner and I visited the 20th Ward, we had a _nice_ long heart to heart with Kuzen," Kaiko smirked as the agents all leaned forward. "Fortunately, we were able to get something out of our former comrade."

When he clicked to the next slide, there were loud sounds of confusion echoing throughout the room. The slide was a headshot of Ukina, Kuzen's fiancé, and it included details on her medical history, genealogy, and physical measurements.

"Ugh, why are you showing us a picture of Kuzen's fiancé_ again_, Kaiko?"

"I have quite the valid reason for doing so, other Random Agent sitting in the back."

"Uh, my name is actually-"

"I just figured Kuzen's _daughter_ would inherit her mother's looks rather than her father's."

Kaiko's smile stretched across his face as he let that sit in the air. Not even half a minute after he had said it, the atmosphere in the room broke as several agents cried out in shock and indignation. A few of the senior agents leaned forward, clearly intrigued by what the white-eyed man was putting forth.

"Now way! A daughter?!"

"D-Did we just assume Kuzen's brat was a boy?"

"How did we miss this?!"

"Should have figured the bastard was pulling a fast one on us."

"Enough!" Kaiko growled, his eye twitching with annoyance at the disorder of the younger agents. He quickly straightened his tie and took a deep breath before smiling again. "Yes, it's true. During our excursion into the 20th, my new protege and I were able to get it out of him, through a nice application of misdirection."

As Kaiko motioned to the tall teen, Eric shrunk back nervously at the awed stares he was receiving, an unsteady smile tugging at his lips. More murmurs spread through the seated crowd as several agents leaned towards the tall half-ghoul.

"That guy? I heard he's done a ton of cleaning missions without any issues…"

"Yeah, he always completes any task given to him to the letter, no room for error."

"How do you think he got Kuzen to spill?"

Kaiko once again cleared his throat. "Right, so during this year's search in the 24th, we'll be looking for a little girl around 10 years of age that resembles _dearly departed_ Ukina...and," the white-eyed man clicked to the next slide. "She'll be possessing _this_ kagune."

Eric's eyes narrowed at the new slide as he tried to take in every detail. It was of Kuzen, clearly when he was younger and still in the organization, during what seemed to be a physical. Trailing behind him was a pair of greyish-red ukaku wings shaped like those of a bird of prey, and several more pictures accompanying it showed them formed into large scimitars with feathery protrusions, or even a long tentacle.

"Our superiors want her captures alive and immediately brought to the 'garden' for examination. Once that's finished, she'll be repurposed into the _first_ hybrid womb," Kaiko leaned forward with a deadpan glare. "But capture _isn't_ the main objective of this mission. We're not a large force, and she could have allies, not to mention our second mark's history. We're simply going in to confirm her presence in the tunnels and her biological sex. Are there any questions?"

"Yeah! What's our second mark?"

"I'm glad you asked, third Random Guy in-"

"My name is-"

"I think I should allow my new partner to help me shed some light on this," the white-eyed man tilted his head towards the tall teen. "Eric, why don't you come up here and fill them in?"

Eric stood up just as Kaiko clicked to the next slide. When the hybrid saw the most recent picture of his younger brother, annoyance flashed through him at the sight of Riley's blue eyes. He quickly composed himself as he faced the rest of the agents.

"S-So, for those of you that aren't aware, before I joined the organization proper I was actually working in one of our subsidiary labs...t-the new one," he nervously rubbed the back of his neck as he eyed the picture of his younger brother. "Unfortunately, one of our test subjects, Subject 3, escaped at the beginning of this year. As he is an asset belonging to our superiors, we have to recapture him as best as possible. I have more than enough reason to believe he's in the 24th as well, given that I've found his kagune secretions when doing my own searches."

The teen then clicked to the next slide, a lopsided grin spreading across his face at what he saw. In the picture, his younger brother sat in a cat-like stance while his gigantic bikaku poised at the photographer like a scorpion's, his single kakugan flaring due to the camera flash.

"As you can see, he's a _perfect_ hybrid, just like our primary mark. His last recorded height was 185 cm, he should be around 190 cm about now, and his last recorded RC count…" Eric clicked to the next slide, a picture of his younger brother's reptilian kakuja. "About 5273, which will definitely have increased. While he probably doesn't have control over his kakuja, he knows how to use it. He is extremely deranged and dangerous, and should be handled with the utmost caution...any questions?" he blinked slightly as Saitou raised a hand slowly. "Y-Yes, what do you need clarified?"

"Nothing of that sort...it's just...Subject 3, he's startlingly similar to you in appearance. Is there anything else we should know?"

"...He...he's my biological sibling. Before any comments are made, please keep in mind that I do not share any familial relationships with Subject 3," the teen watched as a few hands fell. "Will there be anything else?"

When he saw no one else making to raise their hands, the tall boy motioned for his partner to continue. Kaiko smiled at the boy for a split second before turning back to the agents assembled before them.

"Now then, if you look in the folders in front of you, you'll find all the details you'll need on little miss Yoshimura and Subject 3. Also included are the squad details for this mission," the white-eyed man leaned forward menacingly. "Do _not_ forget which squad you are in! Last mission we had all sorts of mixups, and everything went out of sync. We cannot afford any fuckups on this one...now, for those of you who have concerns about munitions, please turn to section 12…"

* * *

**Shibuya ward, Tokyo**

'That was...surreal…' the hybrid thought as he turned in his temporary bedroll. The boy screwed his eyes shut as much as he could. 'I really don't wanna get up…'

_ *POP* _

Riley jolted upright at the loud popping noise with a start, quickly looking around the room in fear and shock. In his still somewhat groggy state, the boy had quickly forgotten about both the events of the previous night and where he was. After a full minute of a near panic attack, he had come to his senses just in time to register the quiet preteen sleeping beside him. The half-ghoul flinched as Kentetsu stirred slightly, and he quietly shuffled away.

'I really need to keep my cool...what was that popping anyway-'

_ *POP* _

The hybrid jolted once again as the noise echoed from his left. He turned his head to look, sneering disdainfully when he saw the phantom lying on her stomach and holding her head up, a bright smile spread across her face. The apparition tilted her head at the boy smugly before pursing her lips.

_ *POP* _

_"...Guess that answers that question,"_ he said irritatedly as he quietly left his sleeping bag.

Riley slowly crept towards the door, flinching every now and then when his roommate stirred slightly. The half-ghoul grimaced as his stomach rumbled just a bit, and quickly made his way towards the kitchen. A full cringe spread across his face as the apparition followed, humming the entire time.

'Minami said we weren't allowed to eat any of the human meat she keeps,' the hybrid put a hand to his chin in contemplation. 'Plus, we're supposed to ration the food we brought in case we go up against investigators-'

_ *POP* _

_"Can you please stop that?!"_ he hissed.

The apparition smiled brightly before giving him a short curtsey. _"As you wish…"_ the phantom giggled at the boy's cold glare. Her response was to stand on the tips of her toes and move her hand up to his nose. _"Boop!"_

Riley stared at her for a few more seconds before turning away with a low huff. The boy noticed a nearby cupboard next to the fridge, and smirked as a metaphorical lightbulb went off in his head. He slowly approached the cabinet and ruffled through it as quietly as possible, before pulling out a box of honeyed oat cereal. The doubtful expression on the boy's face faded once he had turned the box over, finding it to be suitably fresh, before gently grabbing a bowl from an adjacent cupboard. As he walked to the fridge to get milk, he heard the phantom gasping in shock.

_ "Didn't that girl give you a murder glare while telling you that you weren't allowed to eat her food?" _

The half-ghoul shook his head as he pulled out a carton of milk. _"She said we couldn't eat any of the meat she has stored away. She probably doesn't care about any of her human food."_

He turned the carton slightly, a satisfied smile stretching at his lips when he saw it was ok to use. A couple minutes later saw the half-ghoul sitting at the table enjoying his bowl of cereal, nonchalantly munching away as the phantom sat across from him.

_ "Honey was always your favorite, huh?" _

The hybrid didn't even spare her a glance, deciding it'd be better to keep eating instead of acknowledging her. As he was halfway through pushing another spoonful into his mouth, he heard a short, nearly voiceless gasp nearby. The half-ghoul turned to find Kentetsu standing several feet away from him, pale faced as he watched the taller boy eat.

Riley's response was to shovel more cereal into his mouth. This only served to increase the mute preteen's growing horror, which in turn caused a feedback loop; the tall boy continued to eat in confusion, causing the quiet boy to grow more sick and worried at the sight of it.

It was only when Tetsuomi walked out of his temporary bedroom that the loop was broken. The redhead, still in his half-asleep state, noticed Kentetsu staring in horror. He shambled over to the boys before letting out a loud yawn.

"Hey bud, you okay? You look like you've seen a g-g-g…" Tetsuomi turned his head to find the half-ghoul finishing off his cereal with a quiet slurp. The redhead's mouth moved without making a sound for several seconds, before he stomped over to the boy. "What are you doing?!"

"I...I was eating cereal?"

"Are you trying to kill yourself you idiot?!"

"N-No, I think I'm eating cereal," the tall boy said flatly.

The hybrid let out a startled yelp as the redhead grabbed him by the shoulders and pulled him off the chair. He blinked in confusion for a few seconds as he was dragged away from the kitchen, then wrenched himself out of the teen's grasp.

"What are you doing?!"

"I'm taking you to the bathroom! I can show you how to get rid of that poison!"

"P-Poison?!" the boy squeaked out. "B-But I feel fine!"

"You just ate cereal! You're not fine!"

Moriomi arrived just in time to watch the two locked in a struggle. The dark-haired teen rubbed his eyes clear of morning gunk before blinking owlishly at the scene. Finally, he let out an exasperated sigh to get their attention.

"You know, I don't think Uruka would appreciate it if you idiots broke her living space-"

"Thank god you're here! Riley poisoned himself, help me get him to the bathroom!"

Morio tilted his head at his friend, then looked to the half-ghoul. "You poisoned yourself?"

"I was eating cereal! I have no idea what he's going on about!"

The dark-haired boy furrowed his brows at this. "You were just eating cereal?" he snorted at the hybrid's grumbled affirmation. "Is that all?"

"Why are you acting like this is normal?!" the redhead hissed.

"Because he can eat human food, remember?" Moriomi's face fell at his friend's incredulous look. "That time when-oh right, you weren't there! Yeah, half-ghouls can eat human food and stuff."

Tetsuo's mouth flapped for half a minute before he turned to the boy. "Y-You can eat human food?"

"Well, yeah I can...my eye acts up when I do though," the hybrid turned his head and pointed to his right eye. "I mean, it acts up even if I'm eating meat, but still."

"...Has that been on the entire time?" the redhead asked nervously, sweatdropping when the boy nodded. "Holy shit, I didn't even notice."

"You thought he was poisoned, duh," Moriomi tilted his head towards the boy. "Have you ever tried toning that down? You know so that it isn't obvious."

Riley furrowed his brows in concentration, his right eye squinting enough that the black sclera was nearly invisible. Finally his eye opened up completely, revealing that the midnight blackness had dissipated, leaving only a blood red iris against the white of his eye.

"D-Does it look alright?"

"Well, it looks passable at least," the dark-haired teen leaned forward and inspected the boy's eyes. "It'd look okay in public if you can make sure no black shows up. But best bet would be to keep it behind an eyepatch."

"Huh...so, it's like coffee for normal ghouls, right?" the redhead asked nervously.

"Pretty much. I can eat it, and it tastes nice, but it doesn't really do it for me," the hybrid shook his head dejectedly. "Plus, everything humans make probably has some sort of chemical or preservative in it, and I get an upset stomach from all of it. The cereal was all natural, I think, so I should be good."

As the boy grabbed his dirty dishes, Tetsuomi let out a short cough. "S-Soooooo…"

"No, I can't describe how foods taste," Riley said as he began cleaning the dishes from both the morning and the night before. "It's not that I don't want to...ok, that's part of it, but mostly it's because I have no idea how to describe them. I can't taste what chocolate is supposed to taste like for normal ghouls, so I don't have a base for it all."

"Oh, I wasn't gonna ask about that...I mean, I can imagine chocolate tastes good for you-"

"Depends on the chocolate. It's supposed to taste sweet, but some companies make it more bitter, not my favorite flavor," the hybrid leaned his head back to look at the other three as he finished the last few dishes. "Anything else you wanna know?"

The redhead held himself back for several seconds before he finally burst. "Whatmeatthatisnthumantastesmostlikepeople?!"

"...W-What?"

"He's asking you, with the pretense that you've eaten meat that isn't human, what meat tastes closest to human meat," Moriomi snorted as the redhead shrunk back at their confused stares. "Which, gonna be honest, kind of a weird question to ask...I kinda wanna know now too though, what is-"

"Pork," Riley said simply.

"P-Pork?"

"Yeah, pork. That's the closest thing to human meat there is," the hybrid cupped a hand to his chin in contemplation. "I dunno actually, sometimes there's some similarities to beef, or chicken, but it's mostly pork. Maybe taste just varies from person to person."

"Taste just varies from...Ahahahahah!" Tetsuomi let out a drawn out, wheezing laugh. "That's just horrible! Haha, holy shit kid."

"Pork, huh? Didn't really think that would…" Moriomi cut himself off as a look of horror dawned on his face. "Long...pig…"

"Eh? What are you going on about?"

"Long pig! That's what human meat is called on those black markets and shit. I didn't get it until now," the raven-haired boy shivered slightly. "Fucking psychos, they must think it's some kinda in-joke or something," he flinched as Kentetsu held up his notepad. "Huh? What am I talking about? Uh...well...human cannibals, they have black markets and stuff."

"There are _human cannibals_?" the half-ghoul squeaked out. "B-But thats...people...eating other people."

"Well, you don't hear about it too much, but it still happens," the redhead held up his hand and began counting off absentmindedly. "There was that Dahmer guy in the states a while back, there's a bunch of guys who got arrested for it somewhere in China, and I think there was this guy from Kobe, forgot his name though, but he ate a girl while he was in europe and now he gets press 'cause of it…"

"Why though?!"

"Hey, if humans were sane and rational beings, we'd all be living in peace with them and singing 'kumbaya' all day long," Tetsuomi tilted his head at the tall boy. "I mean, not that being insane and irrational is bad! No, not saying that at all."

"I'm not offended by it…"

"Oh good, cause I thought you'd take that as your dad being...well…" the redhead's shoulders slunk at the boy's confused look. "I think it'd be best if I stopped talking, huh?"

"I don't know, you haven't said anything terribly stupid _yet_," Moriomi half-flinched at the sound of a drawn out yawn behind them. He turned around to direct a kind smile to his childhood friend. "Good morning sunshine!"

Minami stretched her arms and adjusted her stiff neck before frowning at the boy. "So it wasn't a nightmare…"

"Your words wound me," the dark-haired teen said in mock grief.

The girl tilted her head towards the tall boy, nose flaring up curiously. "You smell like soap. What's the deal."

"I-I was washing some dishes," the hybrid said nervously, twiddling his fingers. "I'm a bit of a neat freak, and I figured you wouldn't be up for it yourself so early in the morning, so-" Riley let out a small squeak as the girl grabbed him by the collar and pulled him towards her. A dark blush spread across his face as she sniffed around his neck. "W-What are you-"

"Relax! I'm just making sure you didn't eat my stored food," Minami's face scrunched up slightly as she released her grip on the tall boy. "You really do smell, weird, you know that?"

"...I'm from California."

_ "Really? That's your excuse?" _

"That's the hot place with all the earthquakes, right?" the ghoulette sighed at the boy's nervous nod. "Yeah, sounds about right."

_"Like, ohmygosh, I'm like soooo offended!"_

"So, you guys just gonna dick around all day?" the girl asked snidely.

"I'm thinking you should get out of your PJs," Moriomi said absentmindedly.

"W-What?!"

"I was thinking we'd need to set up a meeting with your principal, get your records transferred and stuff," the dark-haired teen cocked his head to the side. "Won't really look good if you meet him in your Pajamas."

"I...r-right, I guess that's a good reason…"

"Do you even have school today?" the redhead asked.

"School's out for practically the whole month," the doe-eyed girl grimaced. "The janitor tried to kill my homeroom teacher, so the doves are cleaning everything and probably listing the school as a place of interest."

"Oof, that's rough...as for what I'm planning," Tetsuomi cocked his head towards the two preteens, a sly grin spreading across his face. "You wouldn't happen to know where I can find some out of the way places? You know, spots that are well hidden and soundproof?"

"...The fact that you're looking at children every few seconds while you're asking me this is concerning."

"It's not like that!" the redhead cried out. "I'm supposed to train them-to fight!" he quickly added, cutting off the girl before she could make a snide remark. "So I need a spot where we won't have to worry about being seen."

Minami's nose twitched slightly before she cocked her head to the side. "The complex has a basement, I think it has an entrance to the 24th. My landlord, she's okay with people training down there," the doe-eyed girl rubbed the back of her neck. "Just as long as you don't damage the place too much…"

"Alright, sweet! You coming with Morio?"

"N-No? I have to go with her," the dark-haired boy motioned to his childhood friend. "I've gotta make sure the doves don't have a reason to tail her or anything."

"Sure you do," Tetsuomi teased lightly. He blinked several times as the doe-eyed girl dropped a key into his hand. "Uh, what is-"

"Spare key for the apartment. I'll help you find the basement in a bit."

"Right, cool...you two!" the redhead rounded on the two preteens. "We're gonna cover a lot with this session. Get your training clothes ready."

Riley tilted his head in confusion. "So...just grab our shoes?"

"...Y-Yeah, just get your shoes on."

* * *

**The basement, a few hours later**

"So, how you two doing?"

Riley sulked over to the redhead, wincing slightly at his aching body. "Everything is painful…"

"Aww, that's just your muscles dealing with the exercise. You'll be fine," Tetsuomi snorted at the quiet boy's tired grunt. "Kenta, don't be such a Debbie Downer."

"How do you even-no, I give up trying to figure that out," the half-ghoul stood up a bit straighter before giving the redhead a gentle smile. "At least you're not as bad as sarge."

At Kentetsu's affirmative grunt, the redhead's eyes widened. "Does...does Neko _actually_ have you guys calling her Sarge?" his face fell as the two boys nodded in terror. "Oh man, maybe she's going a _bit_ too far."

"I mean, it's not like it isn't working," the silver-haired boy held up an arm and rolled his sleeve up, revealing a now sizable amount of muscle. "What was that you guys kept calling me before? Chicken bones?"

"Alright, alright! Yeah, the nickname doesn't fit as well as before," the teen rubbed the back of his neck nervously. "So, I've been meaning to talk to you guys...about some of our sparring matches."

"Y-You mean just between you or everybody?"

"Yes," Tetsuomi shook his head with a small chuckle before growing serious again. "Right, you guys remember that time they put both of you up against me?"

"How could we forget?" the half-ghoul groaned, a sentiment matched by the quiet boy's tired expression. "You beat us in under a minute, it didn't even count as a fight."

"Well, I think it's pretty obvious why," the redhead smirked as he released his kagune. Feather-like rinkaku swirled behind him before coiling forward, and fiery ukaku wings brightened the darker parts of the basement upon emerging. "I'm what the doves call the 'perfect offensive' chimera. I felt like everybody was expecting you to lose."

"I don't get what the point of it was…"

"Probably to help you guys get over your bad matchup and work on your issues," the teen cocked his head to the side and pointed to the quiet boy. "Kenta, you have issues with wasting too much energy when to fight. You also don't do too well when you fight people out of your weight class," he pointed up to Riley with lopsided grin. "You have issues handling people smaller than you. I mean, you do well against Kosshi, and the three of us, but the twins and Neko are a problem, and you haven't even fought Kenta yet...speaking of which…"

"I don't like where this is going."

"I think the best way for you guys to try and work on these issues is to have regular spars with each other," the redhead smirked wildly. "Starting today!"

"...Do I have to?" the half-breed groaned.

"Yes."

"I don't want to…"

"Oh don't be like that!" Tetsuomi teased gently. "If you're gonna whine and complain about everything...well, that's called being a Debbie Downer. Nobody likes a Debbie Downer, Riley."

"Yeah, whatever you say…" the silver-haired boy said under his breath.

"I heard that! Really, you gotta snap out of it, Debbie," the redhead held back a small chuckle before leaning forward. "I mean, come on Deb. You're even starting to bum me out."

"Alright, I get it!" Riley stood up straighter and gave the redhead a deadpan glare. "So, you want us to fight?"

"That's definitely what I said, yes," the teen flinched as Kentetsu tapped him on the shoulder and held up his notepad. "Did you really bring that down here? You didn't-" he sweatdropped as he read what the quiet boy had written down.

'I don't want to fight him. He's too big.'

"So what if his kagune is ridiculously huge? You can still-Eh?" the redhead's expression faltered a bit more as the mute boy wrote down furiously.

'I didn't mean _that_. I meant the other thing.'

"Oh wow, I have no idea how you figured _that_ out," Tetsuomi grinned slyly at the preteen. "But hey, I'm not judging you for swinging that way-Owww!" the redhead let out a cry as the boy slapped him with his notepad.

'I mean he's fucking gigantic! If we fight, he'll snap me in half with one hit!' the quiet boy wrote down furiously. 'Also, yeah, his kagune is big too. I can't possibly win.'

"Oh, you could win if you wanted. Don't be a baby-"

"H-He's not wrong. He's a foot shorter than me, I could hurt him."

"You spar with Neko and Mei-chan all the time," the redhead said suspiciously.

"Yeah, I hold back against them all the time too."

"Well, that's your problem then," Tetsuomi said teasingly. "I remember that time you broke Neko's arm. You tried to help her up, and she just punched you and said 'fights not over yet, baka!' and it was hilarious," he sighed lowly as the two boys squirmed nervously in place. "Look, you guys don't have to go all out, but if you don't take chances like this, then you'll never improve."

The half-ghoul looked back to the mute boy, then to the redhead. "I-I guess you're right…"

"Good! Now, take positions across from each other," Tetsuomi narrowed his eyes when Kentetsu tried to slink away. "Kenta, you're having a sparring match with him, whether you like it or not."

The quiet boy sulkily walked back towards them. Soon enough, the two boys stood several feet away from each other, both leaning down into combat stances. As the redhead began counting down, the hybrid gave his opponent an apologetic look.

"I...no hard feelings, right Kenta?"

The quiet boy slowly nodded in response.

"Alright, begin!" Tetsuomi cried out.

There was an awkward several seconds of the two doing nothing at the teen's signal. Then Kentetsue made the first move. He sped forward in a zig-zag motion, moving almost too fast to track. The quiet boy aimed kicks at his taller opponents legs, using his smaller stature to his advantage by jumping out of reach from the hybrid's swings.

Riley responded by kicking the ground and launching himself back several feet. The tall boy landed with cat-like grace and crouched low to the ground, narrowing his eyes at every movement the other made. When the quiet boy sped forward, the half-ghoul would jump back another few feet. If the other boy aimed for his legs, the hybrid would dance out of his path.

_"Wow~! He's sooo speedy,"_ the phantom cocked its head to the side as the tall boy gritted his teeth trying to ignore her. _"He keeps going for your legs. If he hit you the wrong way, you'll be knocked down~"_

It almost seemed like the madness in his mind had seen into the future, as not even half a minute after she said this, Kentetsu landed a hard strike against his leg. Riley wobbled on his left foot for several seconds before he was able to barely regain his footing. The tall boy did everything to contain his ragged breathing all while dodging more calculated strikes from his opponent.

_"Hey, here's an idea,"_ the apparition giggled as the hybrid was flung several feet back by a tornado kick. _"Why not let him get cocky? If he does some sorta drop kick or another one of those flying spinny kicks, you could probably win easy."_

The tall boy paused slightly as he thought this over, leaving himself open to another attack. A quick front kick from the other preteen sent him flying backwards across the floor, where he soon skidded to a stop. Riley furrowed his brows as he attempted to right himself, rolling out of the way as his opponent aimed a downward kick towards his chest. He quickly jumped to his feet just in time to block another kick with his arms.

"Hey, Kenta! Maybe you should use your arms more?" the redhead called out from the sidelines. "I mean, if you rely on your legs for kicks too much, what happens if they get broken?"

The quiet boy let out a short grunt in acknowledgement before leaping forward with a balled fist pulled back. His opponent simply grunted in annoyance as it connected, and grabbed him by the shoulder. Kentetsu's flight through the air was brief, and he landed with a fraction of grace due to the angle he was thrown at. He narrowed his green eyes in frustration before running towards the taller boy, kicking himself into the air mid-charge.

When Riley saw the flying kick aimed for his face, a small smirk tugged at the corners of his mouth. His right hand shot forward just in time to stop the other boy's approach, locking the offending limb in place.

Kentetsu's eyes widened as the hybrid lifted him further into the air. The taller boy quickly dropped him to his left, then crouched down while stretching his arm out, and charging forward as the quiet boy was in mid-fall. The older preteen let out a wheezing gasp as his opponent clotheslined him, knocking him back into the air with sheer force. He ricocheted across the floor, bones cracking and bruising as he skidded to a halt. By the time the quiet boy had gotten to his feet, Riley had already charged forward with a fist aimed for his gut. He was thrown straight into a nearby wall, the impact throwing up dust and small chunks of debris.

_ "Woohoo! You won!" _

'I guess I did…' Riley sweatdropped as he heard Tetsuomi's whining over the damaged wall. 'If that's it then-'

An electrical buzzing echoed through the basement, and it was only through sheer instinct that the half-ghoul was able to dodge the ukaku shards fired at him. The spikes were all clumped close together to precisely hit their target rather than being released in a massive spread. Kentetsu didn't need to use his kagune that way, his target was almost impossible to miss after all.

The mute boy in question emerged from the dust cloud with a great leap, glowing emerald wings like those of a hummingbird trailing behind him. He floated down to the floor quietly and splayed his ukaku kagune out, firing another burst of shards towards his larger opponent. The spikes flew towards the half-ghoul's feet, causing the silver-haired boy to jump back.

Kentetsu snorted tiredly and cocked his head to the side, then willed his left wing to flex forward. The bird-like limb rippled and morphed, before shifting into a long, thin tendril that coiled into the air above him. The tentacle darted towards the half-ghoul like a snake, coiling around his left arm and pulling him into the air.

_"Well, looks like you're in a bit of a pickle, huh baby brother?"_ the phantom tilted her head as the tall boy skidded across the ground. _"If you don't bring yours out, you'll lose~"_

'It's just a sparring match…'

_ "Yeah, and you're still gonna lose. Bring yours out, make it into a shield or something!" _

'Make a shield? How would I even...oh!' a sly grin spread across his face as he stood to face Kentetsu. 'I've got it!'

A massive cloud of steam suddenly bloomed around the half-ghoul, obscuring his form from the other two in the room. As his wings shifted back to their base shape, Kentetsu took a tentative step forward. The hybrid's monstrous bikaku tail darted from within the smoke, slamming into the ground just beside the quiet boy. The older preteen hopped to the side and released a larger barrage of ukaku shards.

Riley slowly walked out of the cloud of smoke with a smug grin and folded arms, all while coiling his tail forward. The monstrous limb twisted in front of him, before expanding into a flat, paddle-like shape. Any ukaku shards that met the tall boy's makeshift shield either bounced off or broke apart on contact, and any that pierced it would be absorbed into its mass.

Kentetsu's shoulders sank as he realized his attack wasn't working, and his eyes narrowed the moment he caught the half-ghoul's smug look. The quiet boy's response was to raise his wings and expand them further, culminating in a massive barrage of ukaku shards that shot towards the other boy like bolts of lightning.

The hybrid's response was to coil his monstrous bikaku around his entire body, while poising the tip towards his opponent. As the half-ghoul walked forward, a few pairs of eyes spawned along the coils of his tail, shifting and moving around to avoid any of the ukaku shards aimed his way. The tail grew more spines and scutes as the quiet boy's projectiles were absorbed into it, serving to make the bulwark more impenetrable.

Soon enough, the hybrid stood right in front of the quiet boy, still completely encased within his massive kagune. The black and red kagune eyes glared down at the smaller preteen menacingly, to which he stared back in kind. After several tense seconds, Kentetsu shaped his left wing into a thin blade, and attempted to stab through the kagune barrier the half-ghoul had set up.

The moment the ukaku blade pierced the spiky bulwark, a mass of tendrils formed on the surface and grabbed the blade to hold it in place. The quiet boy looked as his restrained wing in surprise, before attempting to pull it out. Just as it seemed he could finally release himself from the kagune grip, Kentetsu suddenly felt a large hand grabbing him by the throat and holding him aloft.

The half-ghoul uncoiled his kagune, revealing a small smirk decorating his face. "Does this mean I win?"

"Yeah, that'd be the match!" Tetsuomi called out, prompting the tall boy to set his opponent down on the floor. "Now then...we're so dead…"

"Eh? What do you-Oh…" Riley turned to look at the state of the room.

The floor had multiple cracks and stab marks marring it, bits of debris dotting the more wrecked portions. One of the walls was visibly cracked from when the hybrid had thrown the quiet boy into it, and smaller chunks sat at the floor beneath it.

The silver-haired boy flinched as he heard clapping beside him. _"Yay! So much destruction, it's all coming together…"_ the illusion looked up at him with a confused expression. _"Uhh-OH, right! Congrats on winning~!"_

"I mean...it wasn't any better before we came here but…" the redhead rubbed the back of his neck tiredly. "I'll take responsibility for this. At worst, I'll just get kicked out or something...also, the hell are we supposed to do with these?" Tetsuomi held up several bundles of of used ukaku shards with his kagune. "I mean, I actually don't know how we even clean them up back home."

Riley tilted his head in thought, before maneuvering his bikaku forward. The tail slithered towards the redhead, before darting upward and coiling back. It rippled as a large, toothy mouth formed at the tip, opening and closing with a loud clacking noise. The hybrid motioned towards the large maw, hoping the redhead would get the idea.

"Uhh...I guess that could work...you sure about this?" Tetsuomi asked worriedly. "C-Cause that could cause a _lot_ of problems."

"W-What kind of problems?"

The teen let out a short sigh before he began dropping shards into the kagune mouth. "Y'know what, we'll deal with it when it comes up…"

* * *

"Alright, so that went pretty well," Tetsuomi said cheerfully as he led the two preteens back to their temporary dwelling.

Both let out small groans in response to his remark. Every step for them was agonizing, due to both their sparring match an hour prior, and the amount of exercise they had to do both before and after it. The redhead ignored their complaints and continued walking forward with a bright grin.

"Quit your whining, both of ya. It wasn't that bad."

"You had us exercise _after_ the sparring match," the hybrid deadpanned.

"Hehe...if Neko found out that I didn't make you do that, I'd have to do it instead," the teen shivered as he said this. "At least you got your sparring match wasn't too long. Maybe a little over 10 minutes, tops. Pretty good time...also," he craned his neck to look back at the two. "Kenta knows to go for the limbs of people taller than him, especially the arms first."

"Wouldn't really work on me…" Riley mumbled.

"Oh, right! Sorry about that one time, but it grew back...right?" the redhead shrugged nervously at the half-ghoul's sigh. "Well, that's only in regards to you anyway. Not everybody can grow their arms back completely in a few seconds...does it ever take longer than that?"

"S-Sometimes? Once it was just an hour, and it was growing from the stump like some baby hand…" the silver-haired boy swallowed a lump in his throat. "It was just...weird…"

"Did _it_ feel bigger in that hand?"

"...W-What?"

Tetsuomi let out a barking laugh. "Ahaha! You know, your hand was all small and stuff? So your...y'know, it must have...uh…" his shoulders quickly sunk at the hybrid's confused expression. "N-Nevermind, just forget I said anything…"

Riley narrowed his eyes slightly before shaking his head tiredly. As the three neared Minami's apartment, the redhead held a hand up to signal the two boys to stop. He turned to them while nervously clearing his throat.

"So, listen...me and Morio-"

'Morio and I,' Kentetsu quickly corrected with his notepad.

The teen let out a short growl. "Fine! _Morio and I_ were gonna do a onceover of the ward in a bit. Y'know, to get a handle on the doves and any of the big players in the ward," he quietly clasped his hands together as a wry grin stretched across his face. "So I figured I'd ask you two how you feel about babysitting."

Both preteens gave him blanks stares in response.

"W-Well...I mean, I'm okay with it in the tunnels…" the tall boy shrugged nervously. "It's kind of a mixed bag, maybe? I mean, on the one hand the kids say funny things sometimes, and they're really sweet and I like to see them happy...on the other hand, I regularly get used as a living jungle gym…"

"See, you're great with kids. I think you two can handle taking care of somebody a bit older."

"...A-Are you talking about Minami-san?"

"What? No, no, no...yes…" the redhead's shoulders fell as he scratched his head. "See, Morio wants to make sure she doesn't leave her apartment, especially while wearing that shitty pumpkin mask. So I suggested leaving you on babysitting duty."

Both boys gaped at Tetsuomi owlishly for over half a minute.

"She's 16!" the half-ghoul hissed lowly. "Why do you think _we_ could keep her from leaving?"

"Ok, for starters, yes she is maybe my age. She's also public enemy #1 in this ward, and she's prone to causing more problems for herself," the teen motioned to Riley. "I figured that you guys could distract her. Kenta because he can't talk, and you for...a number of reasons, obviously."

The hybrid let out a short groan. "This feels awful...I feel like I'm being used…" his head hung low as he jabbed a finger towards his chest. "I have feelings too you know."

"Quit being so dramatic! You two can handle one 16-year-old girl," the redhead motioned for the two to follow him. "Now come on, I'm hoping she won't chew me out too hard if you both come back with me."

When the three arrived at their temporary lodging, the teen made a small spectacle of checking the area around them before going inside. As they walked in, they noticed Moriomi and his childhood friend sitting at the table, the dark-haired teen sipping a cup of coffee while the girl rested her head facedown on the table, letting out a low, drawn out groan. She looked up just in time to see the three entering, and a frown slowly wormed its way across her face.

"Well...you two are back earlier than I thought," Tetsuomi tilted cocked his head to the side as a nervous smile tugged at the corners of his mouth. "So, how'd your meeting go?"

"I'm meeting my principal in two days to get everything ironed out. It's right in the beginning of the first semester, so it's gonna be tough," Minami's eyes narrowed at a stray strand of hair that had fallen over her face, and she blew it away before sighing. "How bad was it?"

"Hmm? What do you-"

"The basement. How much damage did you do?"

The redhead cringed as he danced nervously to the side. "It's got a few cracks in some of the walls, and there's a bunch of marks on the floor," he tilted his head towards the two boys behind him. "Kenta is a ukaku, and Riley's bikaku is huge and...well, there's burn marks, let's just leave it at that."

"How are there burn marks?!" the girl wheezed out.

"Ask the big one, he knows what's up with his weird tail," Tetsuomi turned back to face the girl. "So, anything else happen?"

"Well...I did see Arima-kun and Fura-kun," she said nervously.

"And they're significant...how?"

"Well, I thought they were sorta cute...now they wanna kill me…" Minami let out a tired sigh as she propped her head up with a hand. "I guess it's for the best. I still have some issues with Fura-"

"No! No killing _any more_ teenagers!" Moriomi growled.

"Alright, fine! God, you'd be a real buzzkill as a dad, y'know…"

The redhead blinked in confusion before turning to his friend. "Uh...context?"

"Fura is just a normal human highschool student who started hunting ghouls with Arima. Arima is that guy we were talking about, the one from the sunlit garden."

Tetsuomi's wide eyes glanced to the silver-haired boy nearby for a split second. "You mean he's a-"

"Don't say anything about _that_ you idiot!" the dark-haired teen hissed.

Minami noticed the tall boy's confusion and stood up. "Talk about what? And what's it got to do with him?"

"Uh...well, everybody in the sunlit garden has this...mutation! It's a genetic mutation that makes them better than normal humans, I think…" Moriomi tilted his head towards the hybrid. "He's got the ghoul version of it, I think?"

"Genetic mutation?" one of Minami's eyebrows rose as the two teens nodded. "W-What, what does it do for them?"

"Uh...well, that Arima kid is basically like _Spider Man_ or something," Tetsuomi turned towards the silver-haired boy nervously. "Ah, I kinda forgot what yours does though."

"...M-My what?"

"Y'know, your special...uh...ability! You have that unique thing that only you have," the redhead ignored Moriomi's nervous cough from behind him. "Enlighten us about it, why don't ya?"

Riley furrowed his brows in confusion as he mulled over the redhead's words. 'Does he want me to tell her I'm a one-eye?' a small shiver ran through him as he cupped a hand to his chin. 'I don't wanna tell her that! I...I don't trust her enough yet…'

_"I think he wants you to figure out a cover for him,"_ the phantom said absently.

'Well what am I supposed to tell her? That I can see the future?!'

_ "Tell her you're a Wendigo! That might make her back off if she gets nosy." _

'WHAT?! No! I can't say that! That's horrible!'

"Hello? Oi kid?!" Tetsuomi quickly snapped his fingers in the boy's face. "Riley T. Jameson? You there?"

"Hmm? Oh, right! Uh...I can raise my temperature to maybe...300° or something. It comes from my kagune, but it works across my whole body," the tall boy took a step back as he rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. "I-I can't really use it for long, since I get really dehydrated when I do it."

"...Yeah, so that!" the redhead turned back to the girl with a cheerful grin. "He does that, and Arima has some crazy X-man skills."

"I'm sorry, what? 300°? How are you still alive?!" the girl cried out.

Riley simply shrugged in response. "I...I don't know. I just sorta do it and I don't burn to death, and when I stop doing it I get a glass of water."

"B-But...that's just...from a medical standpoint…" the doe-eyed girl flinched as the redhead laid a hand on her shoulder.

"Hey, it's something you can figure out while we're out."

"Wait, what?!" she looked over to find Moriomi packing some things for an impromptu outing, then back to the redhead as he walked towards the door. As Tetsuomi stretched and flexed his muscles, the girl shook the confusion from her head. "Wait, what are you two doing?!"

"We're gonna go around the ward and see what's up with those two guys you know about...the what, gecko face guy and some other dude?" the dark-haired teen shook his head. "We'll also keep an eye out for those two humans."

"Oh, so you're gonna go stakeout the entire ward and leave me to babysit two kids?"

"Pfft, no! They're the ones babysitting you," the redhead said smugly.

"WHAT?!"

"He's telling the truth," Moriomi said tiredly. "If anybody attacks you, they'll be more than enough to handle it...and I don't want you to go on another murder spree for your ridiculous crusade against teenage delinquents."

"I said I was gonna stop!" the girl cried indignantly. When she noticed the other two teens giving her looks of distrust, she shrunk in place. "Well, I _did_ stop…"

"Well, we'll just be going then. Be back in a bit!" the redhead called out as the two left.

Minami's shoulders slumped in embarrassment as a groan escaped her throat. "Really...couldn't have even given me a chance...damn…" she turned to look at the two nervous boys with a tired expression. "Hmm...You guys want some coffee?"

Riley gave her a closed-eyed smile as the quiet boy nodded eagerly. "Yeah, if it isn't too much trouble…"

_"Finally! Some actual liquid coffee! Do you know how annoying it is to have to eat them as beans?"_ the phantom snorted at the tall boy's sweatdrop. _"Well, obviously you do! It's your body after all~"_

The tall boy squirmed in place as the illusion taunted him, before quietly darting towards his temporary room and grabbing a book. He returned to find Kentetsu sitting at the table, and decided to take his own seat next to the quiet boy, quickly opening to where he had left off.

"So...I know I haven't been very welcoming towards the two of you," the girl said anxiously as she began brewing. "I...I'm really sorry about that. I'm just not really sure how to deal with younger kids-" she quickly slammed her palm against her forehead. "N-Not that you guys are really young, I know you're not toddlers or something. It's just…"

"I'm not really mad," Riley said gently. "Well, I can't speak for Kenta, but I'm ok with it...at least, I'm used to it..."

"Oh, right...that...how did you even get here anyway?" the girl tilted her head towards him. "The country that is. I thought there would be issues with travelling, what with the checkpoints, all the scanners, and whatnot."

"I was only three I think, but I remember being on a boat," the tall boy cupped a hand to his chin in thought. "I don't think there are checkpoints on those, so it we could get on."

"A boat? Seriously? That's so simple…" Minami let out a small snort. "Of course they wouldn't think to check those. The doves are always overthinking things, but they never overthink things enough."

"I...sure, I guess…"

"Wait, when you said 'we', what did you-"

"My family," he quickly interjected, a sour look threatening to spread across his face. "Before you ask, no, they're not around anymore."

"Oh! I-I'm sorry about that…" her shoulders slumped slightly as she continued preparing their drinks. After several minutes, she presented a trio of mugs from her cupboard, motioning for the two to take theirs before grabbing her own. "I know it's probably gonna be shit, because it's that instant crap, but it should work."

Riley placed his book down as he gently took the mug, and took slow sips as he nervously eyed the girl sitting across from him. A loud slurping noise drew their attention, and they both turned to see Kentetsu pulling the mug away from his lips while quickly wiping his mouth. The quiet boy's eyes darted back and forth between the other two before he gave them a sheepish grin.

"I-Is there a reason for the slurping?"

"We...we don't really get much liquid coffee in the tunnels," the hybrid said nervously. "We just grow beans wherever we can and eat those. The actual drink is like a...commodity, I guess."

"You mean everybody in the tunnels...eat coffee beans instead of normal coffee?"

"Well, just our area, since it has some spots where sunlight gets into. The main problem is that the gardens aren't really 'private', so people steal them," a small sigh escaped the boy's lips as his head hung slightly. "One guy in particular that I _somehow_ end up seeing a lot, even if I try to avoid him."

"What, he steals coffee beans in the middle of his murder sprees?" Minami tilted her head at the owlish looks of the two boys. "That's how it is down there, right? It's like a constant battlefield, and you're either hiding in holes to avoid it or joining in. You guys are just in Morio-kun's gang, so you have some protection, is that it?"

"I...no, that's not what it's like at all," Riley said tiredly. "It's like a normal neighborhood, just underground. Sure, sometimes there's stuff to worry about, but we have a bunch of strong people, so it's never other ghouls. Mostly just wild animals...like bears…"

"B-BEARS?! You're joking, right?!"

"No, there are bears...and boars...raccoons...and tanuki...foxes, weasels-"

"Why are there bears and boars?!" the girl cried out.

"Well, it's supposed to be close to...Nishitōkyō and Kiyose?" the half-ghoul turned to the quiet boy for clarification. Kentetsu nodded, and the tall boy turned back to the girl. "Yeah, those places. Our home is called the 'Green Zone' because of all the plants and animals, and since there's so much of them nobody likes going there."

"That's...genius…" the doe-eyed girl said in amazement. "I mean, I'm still not sure if I want to live there now, but it sounds like somebody planned that."

"Maybe they did. Meiko-nee never really told me how long its been settled," the silver-haired boy said with a shrug.

"So, it's not some crazy warzone with cannibalism being the only way to survive?" Minami's expression fell as the two boys shrunk nervously. "Which part about that was I wrong about?"

'The cannibalism,' Kentetsu quickly wrote on his notepad. 'We don't kill anybody _in_ our area, or out of it, without a reason. We usually just scavenge the actual warzones or eat any gangs that attack us.'

The doe-eyed girl let out a low whine as she lightly banged her head against the table. "So there's still cannibalism...I can't handle that. I've never done it in my whole life…"

Riley chewed the inside of his cheek at this. "It's just something you get used to dealing with, I guess."

"Yeah sure, whatever…" Minami flinched as the mute preteen tapped her on the shoulder. "Eh? What is it-"

'Did you really murder teenagers?' the quiet boy wrote.

The atmosphere darkened as the girl sat up stiffly, her eyes shadowed by her bangs. The two boys shrank in their seats as she turned to them with a cold grimace.

After giving them a dead-fish stare for almost a minute, she sighed. "Yeah, I killed teenagers...Jesus, don't look at me like that!" she growled lowly to the quiet boy when she noticed his fearful expression. Her expression faltered slightly when she noticed the tall boy's disappointed expression. "It's not like I did it for kicks, alright! I had a reason, I...I was just mad, alright...you guys understand how hard it is for our kind, right?"

The two boys hung their heads, grim expressions settling across their faces. Riley's eyes screwed shut and his fists clenched as he remembered his life before escaping to the 24th ward. When he looked back to Kentetsu, he saw a soured expression that rivalled his own gracing the quiet boy's face.

"Yeah, the looks on your faces are all the answer I need. I haven't had a good run either…" the doe-eyed girl gritted her teeth as she looked away from them. "The only reason I survived so long was because of Morio-kun. I only went off on my own because I wanted to be normal. I wanted to go to school, study to be a doctor so I could help people, especially our people."

"So, why did you do it then?" the hybrid asked with a blank voice.

Minami squinted her eyes as she violently shuddered. "The people I went after, they weren't good people. They robbed corner stores, broke or stole cars, sold and did drugs, all the most awful criminal bullshit you could think of," her head hung low as she clenched her fists. "They went around trashing their own lives and the lives of others around them. All the while, I had to live in constant fear that I'd be found out for what I was. That all the people I thought were there for me...my friends at school...my teachers...everybody who said they'd support me...they'd start calling me a monster and would just look at me like another piece of scum to wipe off their boots."

Riley furrowed his brows as his disappointed look deepened. "I think attacking people is counterintuitive to that, you know? You're closer to being figured out now than you ever were before."

"...Y-Yeah, you're right," the girl took a deep breath to calm herself. "Maybe I went a little overboard, trying to play vigilante, but I just got so angry," she stared at the two with wide, puppy-dog eyes and an apologetic look. "I-If you guys are scared of me because of all this, I understand...and I'm really sorry for flipping out on you two like that…"

Riley squirmed in place as the girl stared at him. "Y-You can't say that while giving us _that_ look! It's unfair!"

"What ever do you mean?" the girl said obliviously, putting on a hard pout. After she watched them squirm in place for almost a minute, a sly grin spread across her face. "Yeah, I used that trick on Moriomi ever since we were kids. He always had to do what I said if I did the cutesy look...so," the doe-eyed girl leaned forward with a small grin. "What are you reading anyway?"

"Hmm? Oh, this is 'Farmer Giles of Ham', it's by Tolkien," the hybrid held the book up for a few moments before he went back to reading.

"And what's it about?" Minami asked unsurely. "Cause, I know Tolkien is the guy who wrote 'Lord of the Rings', so it's probably a good book...but the title just sounds so...mundane, I guess."

"Well, it's about a guy named Giles-that's not really his full name, it's a lot longer so he just goes by Giles. He's a farmer who just wants a quiet and comfortable life…" Riley made a small popping noise with his mouth as he sagged in his seat. "Can relate on that...anyway, he ends up fighting this giant that wanders onto his farm, and when he fights it off everybody who saw it starts cheering for him. The king eventually Knights him and gives him a magical sword, and he's treated as a celebrity and a hero."

"Sounds great-"

"Except he _doesn't_ actually want that. He just wants his nice quiet life as a farmer," he looked up from the book while cocking his head to the side. "Obviously, there wouldn't be much of a plot if he kept that up. I'm already at the part where Chrysophylax shows up."

"K-Kurisofirakkusu? The hell does that mean?"

"That's the dragon that shows up. I always liked dragons a lot, so it's a nice read for me," the boy noticed Kentetsu writing on his notepad from the corner of his eye, and paled. "K-Kenta, please don't-"

"Hmm? What's this?" the doe-eyed girl narrowed her eyes as she read, then turned to the tall boy. "You tried to fly by attaching cardboard wings to yourself?"

_ "PFFFFT! Oh, this is just great!" _

"This is so embarrassing…" Riley groaned.

The brunette let out a barking laugh at the boy's whines. "That's just...ok, it's kinda dorky and cute, but wow. And you got head injuries too? Didn't you ever stop after those?"

"Well, I never got the chance to keep trying...I mean, if I ever find some more cardboard…"

"N-No, that's just...pfft...wow…" she rubbed the back of her head sheepishly as she gave the boy a kind smile. "Well, now I'm more curious about you than before. I have all these questions you're probably gonna be weirded out by."

"Go ahead and ask. I'm not against most...well," the tall boy pulled up a silky smooth strand of his shiny silver hair. "Don't push anything about this. It isn't dyed, but it's not natural either. Think anything that turns hair white, and it probably happened to me."

"I...woah, okay, I promise I'll try to stay away from that," Minami cocked her head to the side nervously. "Y'know, at first glance it was hard to tell you were a kid. I mean, you had a mask on too, but you're just way taller than I expected for a kid your age...how?"

"Oh, that? It's supposed to be a thing I got from my dad's side. He was about...eight feet tall, last I remember, so I'm supposed to get bigger myself…" the hybrid leaned back as he cupped a hand to his chin in thought. "I forget what it's supposed to be called...something about acrostigma, because of some sort of pulmonary enema-" the boy flinched as Kentetsu tapped him on the shoulder and showed him his notepad. "Enemas are...Eww! That's just weird…"

Minami's eyes widened slightly before a smirk spread across her face. "Oh, you mean Acromegaly?"

"Oh, yeah it was that. I don't-" Riley blinked as the girl darted into her room, then came out with several large books. "Uh...what's going on?"

"Ok, what you have is actually a really interesting condition. I chose it as one of my biology projects in one of my old schools, so I know a thing or two," a short giggle escaped her mouth as the silver-haired boy blinked in shock when she opened the largest of the textbooks. "Relax, I'll make sure to explain it in a way you'll understand…"


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one is the same as before, as well as me removing certain things I didn't think needed to be in the story. I'm also planning to take out a lot of comedic elements if they don't belong, to help give more substance to the more serious moments.

**Shibuya Ward, Tokyo**

"Alright, we're back!" Moriomi smiled cheerfully as he entered the apartment with Tetsuomi at his side. "Really sorry, I know it's a bit late, but we let the time get away from us. Hopefully you guys didn't have too big of a...party...the hell?"

The redhead followed his gaze to see Riley curled up in a ball on the floor, his eyes shadowed by his bangs as he shuddered. Kentetsu knelt beside him, patting his back reassuringly while glancing around warily. At the table, Minami sat with her face down, letting out a low groan while tearing at her own hair.

"Okay, what happened?" Tetsuomi narrowed his eyes as the girl jolted upright. "Well? Are you gonna tell us?"

Minami turned to the two with a sheepish expression. "So...I kinda fucked up…"

"How did you 'fuck up'?" Moriomi asked.

"I may have...accidentally...made Riley think he has cancer…"

The two turned their heads to stare at the half-ghoul, flinching as he muttered fractured sentences about going bald and dying young. The two looked back to the girl in pure shock, holding their hands up in restrained anger.

"How do you make an _11-year-old_ think he has cancer?!" Moriomi cried out.

"Well I didn't do it on purpose!" Minami shrieked. "He told me about how he had that condition that is making him grow really tall, so I told him about it," the doe-eyed girl shrunk in place as the other two stared her down. "Y'know, he's got an Adenoma on his Anterior Pituitary, so he's producing too much growth hormone-"

"I'm sorry, could you please speak normal japanese?" the redhead interjected. "Because...I don't know if any of those were real words. All I know is that _you_ somehow made a kid think he has cancer."

Moriomi turned to his friend with an owlish stare. "Dude...the Pituitary Gland? Meiko taught us a bunch of science stuff, and we read a bit more. The Pituitary is the gland near your brainstem, opposite to the pineal."

"...You mean...the third eye one?" Tetsuomi backed up as an awed look spread across his face. He turned to look at the tall hybrid in shock as his mind processed everything. "You mean...he's got magical cancer?"

"...What?!"

"You said the pineal, and that's his third eye. The one that lets you do magic and read minds!" the redhead put his fingers to his temples in a 'mind-reading pose' before removing them. "You're telling me he has _magical cancer_?! That's fucking crazy!"

"Is that the only thing you remember?" Moriomi sighed tiredly. "The Pineal Gland just makes it so you sleep normally. The Pituitary Gland is the one that keeps everything going: blood pressure, growing, our metabolism, as shitty as _that_ is...for fucks sake, it's the thing that makes your dick work."

"...Really? Guess I gotta appreciate it more then."

"Ugh, is _that_ really important?" the doe-eyed girl asked, a small blush spreading across her face.

Tetsuomi gave her a wide grin. "The dick is extremely important."

Moriomi facepalmed before turning back to his childhood friend. "What were you trying to do again? Tell him why he was getting so tall?"

"Yeah, I told him he had a...you know," the girl motioned towards the boy. "He has an Adenoma on the gland and I...may have accidentally mentioned it was technically a tumor…"

The dark-haired teen's face fell at this. "Y-Yeah, that'll do it…" he turned back to the prone half-ghoul and sighed. "I'm gonna have to talk to him about this."

"Wait, wait! So...he _does_ have a tumor in his brain?" the redhead asked the girl.

"It's not a full tumor, it's benign!"

"...What does that mean?"

Minami facepalmed at this. "It means it's harmless. Benign tumors don't grow or spread."

"How do you know all this?"

"That's the reason I was going to school!" the doe-eyed girl waved her hands in the air wildly. "I want to be a doctor, and if I want to get to the right spot for that then I need to go to school! I did a project on _this_ exact thing."

"Huh...that's interesting…"

Moriomi walked past the two and knelt to the tall boy's side, gently laying a hand on his shoulder. The hybrid glanced at the teen from the corner of his eye, barely registering the reassuring look he was given.

"Ok, I know what Minami said was probably...yeah...but Riley, listen to me. You do not have cancer."

"B-But...tumor...in my brain…"

"It's not...well, it's not really a tumor," the dark-haired teen rubbed the back of his head nervously as he tried to catch his line of thought. "Maybe it's a wart...I don't know, it's just this little lump on one of the spots in your brain. It's not cancer, because it doesn't spread. Just gets bigger sometimes, and makes you grow bigger."

"S-So...I'm not gonna die?"

"...Well, you see-"

Riley let out a sardonic chuckle as Morio sputtered. "Hehe...I'm not even shocked. I'm just annoyed I didn't figure it out sooner…"

"Ok, it's not that the growth itself is gonna kill you. Ever hear the old saying 'too much of a good thing'?" the teen let out a small breath as the boy nodded slowly. "Good, then you should know that being too tall is probably a bad thing. Meiko could probably tell you more, since I don't really have a good grasp on all the science stuff...I think I remember her explaining it to me for a bit…"

The half-ghoul uncurled from his ball and sat up slightly. "So...nee-san, she knows about that?"

"Yeah, she brought me and Morio-Ugh. Kenta, not cool! She brought _Morio and I_ into a spot to talk...there, happy?" the redhead gave the quiet boy a flat glare before turning back to the tall hybrid. "She said something about removing it, that the twins knew a guy who had the tools...wait, I don't mean it like that!" Tetsuomi quickly waved his hands in front of himself as Riley paled at his words. "Nobody is gonna hack at you with tools like a psychopath or anything, I promise."

Minami snorted at this. "What, is he scared of doctors or something?" the doe-eyed girl flinched as the silver-haired boy gave her a meek look. "Oh...I'm so sorry, I didn't-"

"I-It's fine," the tall boy said offhandedly. He slowly sat up, a small shiver running through him for a few seconds before he shook his head. "I...I'm not sure how I feel about it...but if Meiko says the same thing, I'll trust her on it."

The ghoulette furrowed her brows in thought. "Meiko...she's your boss, right?"

"Yeah, boss-lady is the one who keeps stuff running in our section of the tunnels," the redhead said cheerfully. "Usually it's just gathering food for everybody, since nobody on our turf is allowed to cannibalize each other."

"Okay then...what even goes on in the tunnels anyway?"

"Oh, well as of late we're dealing with a...Crustacean problem…" Tetsuomi said ominously.

"...Morio, context?"

"He's talking about King Crab. Huge kakuja that's been harassing our turf for a while now."

"Y-You mean the new SSS-Rate?!" the doe-eyed girl wheezed.

"Yeah, him. He hasn't gotten near our 'village' yet, but we're getting worried."

"Don't know why everybody is so stuck on it," the half-ghoul mumbled. "Nobody will even tell me what a kakuja is…"

Tetsuomi ignored the mumbling boy and cupped a hand to his chin in thought. "I feel like we're gonna be dealing with a lot more shit in the near future, for some reason."

* * *

**"24th" Ward, Tokyo**

"God damn, it's so disgusting down here! There's all this slime and shit everywhere-"

"Well suck. It. UP!" Kaiko growled to the complaining agent as their squad trekked through a rather muck-covered part of the tunnels. "This wasn't supposed to be a clean job, and it's not going to get easier anytime soon..._especially_ when somebody is constantly complaining about it."

"God, it's so stuffy down here!" Keita cried out. "Why couldn't we get the girl's location out of Kuzen himself?"

"Because he didn't want to tell us," an older agent grumbled. "He has it in him that he needs to protect his_ little girl._..kind of ironic, considering he could have done it better if he hadn't abandoned her down here."

Another agent let out a wheezing laugh. "Yes, down here she's just as much easy pickings as any of the regular scum."

"This is so annoying…" Keita groaned. "How long have we been down here?"

"Five...hours…" Kaiko growled through his teeth.

"And we're gonna be down here for almost a whole week?! I can't believe this, we have to trudge through literal shit just because the bosses want an exotic sex slave. What did we ever do to deserve-"

"Keita, I'm going to kill you over and over again," Eric said flatly, causing the smaller ghoul to shut his mouth immediately.

The white-eyed man turned to his younger partner with a raised brow. "You can stop being so sour, you know?"

"Yeah, I got you...but the secretion scanners don't lie," the giant held up a small handheld device. "The only kagune signatures I found that are similar to mine are _months_ old, and there's no hide or hair of the old man's brat."

Kaiko let out a tired sigh. "Yes, I'm worried personally. Once Tsune and Chika get stuck on a particular woman, they get really impatient if she's not brought to them immediately," the white-eyed man laid a hand on the teen's shoulder. "You don't need to worry, Eric. We'll capture both of them in no time...there's nowhere for caged birds like them to escape."

Eric only chuckled darkly, smiling as his mentor gave him a confused look. "You're right about the girl, Kaiko-sama. She's been down here her whole life, she has nowhere else to go. A bird in a cage, but birds eventually accept their confinement. After all, they can't really do anything about it, especially if their wings are clipped…" the teen cupped a hand to his chin in thought. "My brother...he's more like a dog...a _really_ angry dog. Dogs hate cages and love being free, that's why they run away all the time. We just have to go find my runaway dog."

"...That's quite the...interesting analogy to use for your younger sibling," the white-eyed man said nervously.

Small squelching sounds nearby stopped the group in their tracks, and many of them turned to the wall on their left side. As the half-ghoul scrutinized the surface, he realized that the wall was moving and pulsating as though it were some living thing.

"What the hell is this?" Eric thought aloud.

"It's an RC wall," Saitou said blankly. "Down here, ghouls have this building material that's similar to flesh. It's very durable, but not very useful for big structures, since it takes a lot of work to make. So the most you'll see of it is as walls that react to a ghoul's kagune when they want to leave. Sometimes they can turn spots down here into living mazes."

"It seems like we're close to someone's personal domicile…" Kaiko snorted hotly. "Either that, or one of the so-called 'Villages' that they make down here to try and be civilized."

Keita let out a small cough. "Uh...when you say village...what does that mean?"

"Oh yeah, some of you haven't really been here as frequently as others," the tall hybrid cupped a hand to his chin in thought. "Down here, there are sections of the tunnels that are like villages or towns. They have houses of sorts that are near one another, and the ghouls in them act like a community."

"We're not really welcome in those areas…" Kaiko grimaced as he turned to the rest of the group. "The one nearby, the only one I know of associated with the 20th Ward, it's called the 'Green Zone'. I haven't encountered the leaders personally, but they seem to take a no-nonsense policy towards our organization in particular."

"So...I'm guessing somebody who's associated with us," Eric hummed thoughtfully. "Maybe a retired member?"

"Either way, we wouldn't want to go there in the first place…"

"W-Wait, why not?" Keita asked the white-eyed man.

"T-There are...there are bears there…" Kaiko said worriedly. "Bears, wild boars, raccoons, all sorts of wild animals we'd rather _not_ deal with."

"Woah! Woah! Wait a _fucking_ minute!" the giant held his hands up as his voice boomed through the tunnels. "You...you don't wanna check this 'Green Zone', which could be the most likely hiding place for _both_ of our targets, because of _BEARS_?!"

"...Bears are really terrifying-"

"I've killed bears plenty of times! They're not _that_ dangerous!"

"Eric, you're over 7 feet tall! You're the only person here who has the strength to lift a massive furry monstrosity into the air with _one_ hand," the white-eyed man snapped. "Besides, even if we did get past all the wild animals, the leaders of the Green Zone would be on us in a flash...But please, if you're willing to take a gamble then-"

***CRAAACCCKKK***

Kaiko blinked as the wall to their right was completely decimated by an unseen force. Eric jumped in front of the squad, blocking off a sizable amount of rubble with his broad frame at the expense of his outfit, as sharp stones sheared through his suit. As the dust settled to the ground, the agents finally beheld the figure that was responsible, and the cries and concern for the tall hybrid quickly transformed into terrified voices.

When the half-ghoul rose, he found himself staring into the face of some macabre parody of a spine-covered crab made of bright red, chitinous armor, with three pairs of blade-like legs splayed out beneath it, and held in front of itself were two pairs of segmented arms adorned with spikes, ending in massive pincers that snapped at the air. It was the face that made the teen turn pale, as he found an array of kakugan eyes gazing down at him, accompanied by an ever widening grin filled with large, humanoid teeth.

Eric began shivering at the wide grin of the creature, his body locking in place as the crab-like monster took a step towards him. He had seen his younger brother's kakuja before, at least when he had brought it out by accident or they needed it out for experiments. Even then, Riley's kakuja had been incomplete, not fully covering his torso and limbs, whereas this one was a full kakuja that completely towered over even the giant himself.

The half-ghoul held his hands up nervously as he took a step back. "H-Hey, listen, we were just passing through searching for...something...so, if we could just-"

"EVERYBODY CHEESE IT!" one of the agents behind him cried out.

"God damn it, really?!" Eric growled in exasperation as he turned on his heels and ran after his squad. When he looked back, he saw that the monstrous crab-creature had already given chase. "Shit! Shit! Shit!"

"Ah! It's still after us!"

"What do?!"

"Would all of you just calm down!" Saitou yelled to the agents as they all ran. "Kaiko, what's the situation?!"

"That's King Crab, the newest SSS-Rate. Koukaku-type, with enough strength to take down dozens of First-Class Investigators, entire squads of Junior investigators, and even handled two Associate-Special Class investigators...one of which was from _our_ garden."

"Damn...alright, we don't need to worry about this," the secondary squad leader looked behind them, smirking at the sight of the slow moving kakuja. "He's a koukaku-type after all, so he'll be slow regardless of his kakuja. We can outrun him."

"U-Uh, sir...I think _one_ of us may have a problem with the whole 'fleeing' option…"

Kaiko and Saitou craned their necks to see the half-ghoul lagging behind, unable to escape the monstrous kakuja. The tall boy barely dodged the crab monster's slashes and strikes, nearly losing his legs in the process.

"Eric! What the hell?!"

"Well, I'm sorry, but I can't really run all that fast!" the teen cried out. "I haven't taken the time to exercise my legs as much, alright!"

"Maybe you shouldn't have 'politely declined' Chika-sama's offer to help you, no?" the white-eyed man called back to the boy.

"Shut it! Why aren't you guys bringing your quinques out to fight this thing?!"

"On a kakuja?! Yeah, like that'll work…" Keita gasped out.

The hybrid growled in annoyance and looked behind himself for a split second as he dodged another attack from the large pincers. He activated his single kakugan and glared into the tunnel ahead, a smirk tugged at the corners of his mouth when he spotted a sharp turn to his left. The moment he was close to it, the half-ghoul released his bikuku tail and stabbed it into the kakuja behind him, using the creature as a launch point so that he could throw himself into the nearby corridor. The crab-like kakuja growled something incomprehensible as it turned to the boy and followed him.

"Eric! What are you doing?!" Kaiko cried out.

"I'll handle this for now, just keep moving! I'll meet up with you later!" with that, the teen barreled down the tunnel, angry kakuja in tow. He craned his neck to look at his pursuer, using his kagune to parry the strikes that came his way. "Come on you bitch!"

The half-ghoul ran for nearly an hour, all the while ensuring that the kakuja hadn't lost interest in him. The teen made a sudden stop as he found himself at a moss-covered overhang that looked carved into a completely flat incline. As the kakuja finally caught up with him, the tall boy turned to them with a sadistic grin.

"My turn~!"

Eric's kagune morphed into a mass of skeletal arms ending in clawed hands, fanged mouths and kakugan eyes dotting the length of the limbs and palms. The kagune hands sped towards the kakuja, instantly shearing off King Crab's four kakuja arms and causing it to stumble back. As the crab monster roared obscenities at him, the teen slyly tipped his bob-hat to the ghoul before using his kagune to scale the wall behind him.

Once he was at the top, the hybrid made a break for it further into the tunnels, only stopping when he couldn't hear the deranged kakuja whatsoever. As he moved through the tunnels, he noticed the gradual changes the environment took around him. It started with small plants and fungi, and then everything seemed to transform into a full-fledged forest.

"Jeez, where did all these weeds come from?" the giant grumbled. "Was there a gardeners expo down here or-"

"Nyan~! We've been walking down here foreveeeer, and we haven't found shit!"

Eric stopped in his tracks as a voice echoed from nearby. The tall boy watched as five robed figures trudged toward him absentmindedly. As they got closer, he could pick out some of their finer features, namely that they were mostly girls. Two identical blondes, a tall brunette, and a smaller excitable brunette that was clearly the source of the shouting, all led by a bespectacled girl with long purple hair.

"Neko, we've barely started patrolling. It's only been a day and a half," one of the blondes said, clearly irritated if the sound of _his_ voice was to be believed.

Before the hybrid could even attempt to leave, the tallest of the group spotted him and jumped forward, letting out a loud growl. "Black coat!"

The entire group froze upon seeing him and crouched into low combat stances. As the five of them scrutinized him, Eric swore he could see recognition flashing across their faces for a split second. The plum-haired girl slowly inched towards him, activating her kakugan to accentuate a hardened glare.

"I thought we made it _abundantly_ clear that Vasuki was not welcome here…" she said coldly, causing her comrades to shudder. The bespectacled ghoul's expression morphed as a dark red cloud of RC formed behind her. **"Leave!"**

"I...I'm sorry, what is here? Because I've never-"

"The Green Zone," the blonde girl cut him off as she circled around him cautiously. "We've given your people more than enough 'messages' about it."

"Oh! This is the Green Zone?" the tall hybrid scratched his head nervously as he looked around him. "Honestly, I probably should have been tipped off sooner…Kaiko-sama literally just told me about this place, so I'm not really all in the know-"

"That doesn't mean anything to us," the plum-haired girl growled.

Eric shrunk in place as he analyzed the situation. The girl glaring at him harshly was obviously the leader of the group, and most likely the village itself, and she clearly had a connection to V if her reaction to his mentioning Kaiko was anything to go off of. All of the ghouls seemed to recognize him to some degree, and the hybrid could feel a theory cracking forth like the yolk from an egg.

Before he could confront him about it, the short brunette stomped at the ground. "What's with your suit? Why's it all ripped?"

"Hmm? Oh, my squad and I had some run-in with this crab looking asshole," the tall boy brushed some dust off his shoulders as a contemplative look lanced through his visage. "I think it was...oh, maybe a couple hours ago. I led him away from-"

"Wait, wait! You saw King Crab?!" the taller brunette cried out.

"...Yes? Is there some sort of significance about this?"

"Where?! Where did you see that nutcase?! Tell us now or-"

"Kosshi, shut up!" the blonde boy hissed.

Eric grinned sadistically as he began figuring out the angle he wanted to work. The plum-haired girl spotted this and stalked towards him, visibly restraining herself from tearing into him.

"Perhaps...we might not kill you…" it looked as though just thinking those words left a foul taste in her mouth. The bespectacled girl swallowed the bile forming in her throat as she turned her glare back to the hybrid. "If you were to give us information on King Crab, I think we could be...lenient with you, and just send you on your way-"

"Yeah, no thanks," the tall boy leaned down to stare the girl directly in the eye, a murderous gleam flashing through his sapphire-colored orbs. "I'm thinking we could have an...exchange, yeah. We can exchange information instead."

"...What information could _you_ want?"

A dark, throaty chuckle emanated from Eric's throat. "You see, I'm actually looking for a few people. A girl and a boy-I know, I know! It sounds weird…" he tilted his head in thought as he continued. "My squad leader has a picture of what we think the girl looks like...I don't have it on me though. The boy though, I know him pretty well, he's probably around six feet or something, bright silver hair, blue eyes."

The hybrid noticed them tensing up, and his smirk twisted into a maniacal grin.

"He also shares a lot of facial features with...well, me in particular," he noticed how they turned a few shades lighter, and shook with excitement as he leaned forward. "In fact, _both_ the girl and the boy share this...unique feature I have."

Every one of them went pale as ghosts the moment he reactivated his single kakugan. The plum-haired girl stared at him coldly, before closing her eyes taking a deep breath.

"I'm very sorry, but I'm afraid we won't be able to help you with that," she said slowly. "You're the first one-eye we've seen. I'd try looking elsewhe-"

"Liar~!" the tall boy singsonged. "Something else I noticed was that you look a lot like my bosses, Tsune-sama and Chika-sama, so-"

Eric was cut off as eight dark-red tentacles, nearly black in color, emerged from the girl's back and attempted to spear him through. The giant dodged the attack and released his bone-colored bikaku to fend them off.

"This...is just _wonderful_!" the teen flashed her a grin that reached ear to ear as his reptilian tail coiled forward. His smile faltered just a bit as the others released their own kagune. "Welp, guess it's time to drop the formalities, huh? Tell me where my brother and Kuzen's brat are, and I'll make sure your friends die painfully..."

* * *

**Shibuya Ward, Tokyo**

The thuggish ghoul walked through an alley early in the night, nursing the stump of his right hand that had yet to grow back. He grumbled and gritted his teeth as he massaged the area to soothe the pain. A small sound nearby caused him to freeze in place, and he turned his head to the side with a hateful grimace.

His bluish rinkaku tentacles shot forward and slammed into the ground, narrowly missing an orange-haired highschooler wielding a baseball bat. As the boy wobbled backwards on one leg, another teen arrived, this one a blue-haired highschooler wearing glasses carrying a guitar case on his back.

"You're missing your hand...and we definitely haven't encountered you in the last week," the boy adjusted his glasses and tilted his head. "You've been in conflict with another ghoul, haven't you? If you come quietly and promise to give us information, you can at least live for a while in captivity."

"Damn doves, bothering me while injured...that's like..._fucking_ another man's mother," the scruffy ghoul snarled at the two. "Are you trying to _fuck_ my mother?!"

Both teens went completely silent and stared at the ghoul owlishly, obviously unsure as to how they were supposed to respond to that. The ghoul was displeased by this, and charged forward with a loud roar.

"How dare you remain silent about _fucking_ my mother! You little shits!"

A few seconds later, the deranged ghoul's head rolled across the pavement. The two teenage ghoul hunters looked at each other for several seconds, before shaking their heads.

"Arima...what was..._that_?"

"I...honestly, I have no idea," the blue-haired boy cupped a hand to his chin in thought as he deactivated his quinque. As he pulled his guitar case off his back to put his weapon away, he let out a small sigh. "Sometimes I always wonder if they've developed their own culture and customs while living on the fringes of our society. I would have liked to study that instead of hunting them...but now, it's just something I think is nice to think about."

"...Arima, he asked us if we wanted to _fuck_ his mother."

"Y-Yes Fura, I'm aware of that," Arima let out an exasperated sigh. "I think it'd be best if we focused on finding information about our primary target."

"Yeah, Lantern…" Fura's expression darkened as he thought about the pumpkin-masked ghoul. "Once I find him, I'll make sure he pays for what he did."

"Guess it's a good thing ya won't have to wait then, huh?"

The teens looked up to see two figures staring down at them from the top of the adjacent building. As the two jumped down, the ghoul-hunters flinched back at the sight of their active kakugan. The first was a tall brown-haired man wearing a black suit, and a bandana around the lower half of his face making up his mask. The second was a blonde man in a black turtleneck and white pants, his white mask hiding the upper portion of his face behind menacing brows and a bulbous nose.

As the two scrutinized the teens, both ghoul-hunters jumped back and brought out their weapons. The tall ghoul held his hands up placatingly while letting out a small chuckle.

"Woah, calm down kiddies! We're not here to start a fight...you said you were looking for Lantern, right?"

"That is...correct…" the bluenette trailed off, still holding his sword out. From the corner of his eye, he noticed Fura lowering his bat slightly, and frowned. "What are you planning? Do you work for Lantern?"

"Pfft! What, Pumpkin-Head? Fuck no!" the tall ghoul let out a loud snort. "We hate that guy, we just hang around him sometimes because we have nothing better to do."

"That's why we thought that maybe you'd be interested in a deal," the blonde walked forward with a wide grin, holding his hands in his pockets. "What if I were to tell you that we could bring you the guy you're looking for on a silver platter? How would you feel about that?"

"I'd call bullshit," the orange-haired teen growled. "It sounds too good to be true."

"Well that's what we're offering, kiddies," the tall ghoul leaned forward and smiled at the boys beneath his mask. "You want him? We can get you in the right place and the right time to nab him."

"...You're willing to sell him out?" Arima asked slowly.

"Uhhh, duh! If he's gone, then that's one less person to challenge for the ward," the blonde said cheerfully.

"How do we know we could trust you if we took this deal?" Fura asked hotly.

"Oh, you definitely can't," the blonde ghoul said blithely. "But conversely...we can't exactly trust you, can we? Obviously, we'll only help you get rid of Lantern. After that, all bets are off, and you'll probably move on to us. Either we get out of dodge before that, or we turn on you...either way, at least Lantern is dead."

"W-Well, you're not wrong," Arima stared at the ghouls for several tense seconds before hesitantly deactivating his quinque. "This...this is a faustian deal. I shouldn't be taking it…"

"But you haven't tried to kill us yet," the tall ghoul noted.

The blue-haired boy adjusted his glass as he contemplated the choice in front of him. Then, much to the surprise of Fura and the two ghouls, he walked up to the blonde with an outstretched hand. The shorter ghoul ignored the twitching of the hand the boy held his quinque with, and took the hand offered to him.

"It'll be a pleasure to do business with you, investigator-san."

"Y-Yes, I suppose so…" the bespectacled boy said lowly.

At the taller ghoul's cackling and patting of his partner's shoulder, Fura went ghost pale. His bat dropped to the ground with a small clatter as he shivered, unable to shake the feeling that something about how this entire situation was so wrong.

'...Just what the hell are we getting into?'


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next one after this will be the last hard rewrite of a chapter. Everything after this will have minor changes and additions, hopefully enough that it'll look how I want it to. The last portion of this chapter was swiped from the original chapter 10 because I thought it fit better here.

**Vasuki base, Unknown location, Tokyo**

**Early Morning**

Arima stood in the debriefing room, inwardly sneering at his surroundings. When he had made sure to inform Fura that he was going to be busy dealing with family issues, he wasn’t _ technically _wrong by saying it. Currently, the bluenette was internally going over how to handle this ‘family visit’ as professionally as possible. 

His eyes roamed around the room idly, noting the room around him. Whenever he entered one of their bases, he always numbed himself to his indirect surroundings. This was more often than not due to everything being so utterly tacky and self-absorbed; from the giant red ‘V’ spanning the entire floor, to the banners of the same symbol lining the walls alongside the Washuu family’s crest. If the teen were honest with himself, there was only one reason he hadn’t decided to blank his surroundings out in this specific base in particular. 

And that would most likely be the giant mural around the entire meeting room. Instead of even more blatant narcissism, the bluenette was pleasantly surprised, and equally disturbed, to have spotted the thousands upon thousands of beasts around him. The mural depicted a veritable menagerie of Dragons, from the mystifying Ryū and Long of the east as they subjugated their prey, all the way to the ferocious Drakes and Wyverns of the west as they fought back desperate warriors. A few many-headed Naga were reared back in a striking position as Wyrms and Lindwurms hissed and crouched beneath them, ready to pounce in an instant. 

The creatures all seemed to dance across the walls like they were taking part in a macabre parade of fire and death. To Arima, it almost felt as though each and every one would jump to life from the canvas and chase him down in a game of cat and mouse. 

One of the Dragons in particular caught the bluenette’s eye. Facing down an army of Elves, Dwarves, and everything in between, was a group of western Dragons of different makeup, from a large Worm to a monstrous Fire-Drake. 

At the front of the group was the second largest of them all, a wingless Drake that looked like a great Dinosaur or a mutated Crocodile. It was charcoal black, like the stone of a volcano, and all manner of spikes and bony protrusions stuck out from its scaled hide, and the wickedly sharp scutes running down its back were very reminiscent of a certain Kaiju. It’s saurian face held two blood-red eyes that gleamed with a piercing, almost hypnotic gaze, and an orange glow emanated from its mouth as a threat to the army below it. 

“Impressive, isn’t it?”

Arima froze at the voice and turned to find Tsune-sama walking towards him nonchalantly, manilla folder in hand. A pang of ‘father’ rang out through his mind before the bluenette crushed it immediately. He wasn’t allowed to be this man’s son, just as he wasn’t allowed to be _ her _brother, all regardless of blood relation. 

“I...I find it pleasant...at least, in how well it’s been painted,” the teen eyed the man as he went over files. “I can’t say I’m ‘impressed’ with it though. It’s not on the same scale as the mural of Vasuki back at h-the garden.” 

“Oh yes, that one…” the aged ghoul smiled as he remembered the mural of the Naga King coiling across the walls of their family’s dinner table. “It wasn’t a commissioned piece, like this one, since back then we figured it’d be bad to bring in an outsider, seeing as they’d ask..._ questions _.” 

“Is that so? How did it get painted then?”

“The Clan did it ourselves...well, the Main Branch did, anyway. It was only completed within the last few decades,” a chuckle escaped Tsune’s mouth as he cupped a hand to his chin. “I remember doing a few sections of the scales myself when I was much younger, it was a big father-son bonding thing we had going. Did the same with Chika, and he’s done it as well.” 

Arima chewed the inside of his cheek before turning back to volcanic drake. “So...which one is this?”

“Hmm? Oh, that’s Glaurung, the father of dragons in Tolkien’s legendarium...with some personal flair from the artist, of course,” the ghoul stood up and walked over to the boy. “Same with the others: Smaug, Scatha, and Ancalagon. The Fire Drake of Gondolin doesn’t have a name of course,” the old man motioned to the different dragons behind Glaurung. “They’re a much newer addition than the others, a few years at least. I remember bringing the artist in, and he was quite impressed with the whole setup.”

Arima pursed his lips as he scrutinized the pack of Ennorian dragons, a faint scowl tugging his mouth down as he was reminded that he had yet to start anything by Tolkien. The bluenette’s eyes lingered on the painting of Glaurung for several seconds, and he had to fight back a shiver. Something about the specific dragon was just chilling to him in a way he couldn’t describe.

“Arima? Are you still there?” Tsune tilted his head as the boy was brought out of his reverie. “I was getting worried there for a bit. So tell me about these...what were they again? Yamori and Katou, they’re the ones who gave you information on a nest, right? You said they had potential?” 

“Well, I’d say it’s conditional at the very least,” the bluenette said curtly. He started at his superior’s furrowed brows, and cleared his throat. “Both of them have designs on taking over the 13th Ward, and whichever one does so we could make agreements with. The other would be better off starting as a mole...that is, once Lantern is disposed of.”

“Ah yes, Lantern…” Tsune trailed off darkly as he looked over another file. “Do you have any leads? Suspects maybe?”

“One lead, the shoe size of 22 cm, only a few suspects, one of whom I’m keeping a particular eye on. I haven’t been able to draw out enough evidence against them, but I’ll be investigating it soon.” 

“Good, good...and what of your little ‘assistant’?” the ghoul leaned forward with a curious expression. “You said he was a school student, correct?”

Arima shrunk back at this and tried to look away. “He...he certainly has a lot of potential,” the bluenette frowned and gave his superior an unsteady look. “As a CCG Investigator. I don’t think he would fit in V, considering his personality, and how he views..._ them _.” 

“Is that so...I suppose it can’t be helped,” Tsune shrugged as he bound the files in his hands together as impeccably as he could. “That’s all for now, Kishou. Dismissed.” 

The teen frowned and stood up to leave. As he walked past his boss, he noticed pictures of a blonde woman included in the files the man had been going over. Arima had been sure Tsune was going over the Lantern case, so his glasses slid away from his eyes as they widened in confusion.

“Is something wrong, Kishou?”

“N-No sir, nothing at all,” the bluenette said quickly. He turned away stiffly and made to leave. “I’ll be leaving now…”  
“Yes, that would be best.”

As Arima left the base, he felt an annoying vibration from within the satchel he had brought. He dug inside and pulled out his brick of a phone, furrowing his brows at the unknown number. When he answered, he was greeted by the sound of heavy breathing.

“This is Arima Kishou, who is this?”

“A-Arima…*huff* i-it’s me, Fura!”

“Fura? What’s going on?” the bluenette asked with a small measure of concern. 

“Okay, so *huff* you know that warehouse? The one our ‘partners’ told us about,” the teen let out an annoyed growl through the line. “I…*huff* oh...holy shit...I may have...gone in to check it out?”

“...What?”

“And I also may have ended up fighting all of them…”

“What?! Fura, what happened?! You’re injured, aren’t you? Where are the ghouls?”

“Would you chill out! I’m just out of breath...also, I got them all.”

Arima pulled the phone away from his ear and stared at it dumbly for a few seconds before pulling it back to himself. “Fura, are you insane? Do you have any idea what you’ve done?” the bluenette frowned as the other boy tried to protest. “Listen, I’ll be there in a bit, just don’t give into their demands-”

“What demands?! I went in and killed them all!”

“Bullshit! You’re being held hostage and this is all just a trap they’re setting for me.”

“Arima, I ain’t pulling your leg! I really did this, you gotta believe me!”

“Daga Kotowaru!” 

“...Did you just make a-”

“Fura, stay put! I’m coming to get you,” Arima ignored the last indignant cries of protest and hung up. As he ran down the street, he noticed an unoccupied taxi with the driver hanging his arm out the window. The teen wasted no time in running over. “Hey! Takushii!” 

**———————————————————————**

**Shibuya Ward, Tokyo**

When Arima arrived at the supposedly abandoned warehouse, he was treated to a disturbing sight. The doors to the warehouse had been knocked inward with a great amount of force, and there was a trail of dry blood leading from within. A frown spread across his face when he saw a pair of bodies inside just near the entrance. 

‘So he wasn’t lying…’ the bluenette thought as he inspected the trail of blood. ‘Was he injured?’

The teen followed the trail to a large trio of leafy bushes. He could see sparse amounts of movement behind them, and he spotted a familiar mop of spiky orange hair. Arima took a tentative step forward before swallowing nervously. 

“Fura?”

“A-Arima?!” the shape behind the bushes jumped a little and moved erratically. “J-Just stay b-back! Don’t come any c-closer.”

“So you _ are _being held hostage,” the bluenette mused.

“N-NO! I j-just don’t want you t-to get dirty…”

Arima furrowed his brows in confusion. “What do you mean ‘dirty’? Fura, come out and talk to me.” 

The orange-haired teen stayed silent for several seconds before letting out a sigh and standing up. As he exited the shrubbery, Arima chewed the inside of his cheek when he saw the state of his friend. Fura’s clothes, his arms, even his face, were covered in blood and bits of viscera, and his brown eyes held a haunted look. 

“...Where is your bat?” the bluenette asked slowly. 

Fura turned around silently and pulled the metal club from the bushes. It was dented slightly, and completely caked in blood and gore. The bespectacled teen’s look softened as his friend sat down and rocked in place, cradling his weapon like a newborn child.

Arima sat beside the boy and laid a hand on his shoulder. “Tell me what happened.” 

The orange-haired teen sniffled a bit before shaking his head. “I just...I wanted to scope the place out, y’know? I didn’t see much, but then I saw somebody looking out the windows, and heard somebody talking outside, so I thought ‘hey, that’s it, they’re gonna leave now cause they know we’re coming’...” Fura shuddered slightly and held a bloody hand to his face to wipe away fresh tears. “So I just...I just charged in. I don’t think any of them expected it, so when I got to the first two they went down pretty quick. I didn’t stop until I was sure they were done...that’s where all this,” he motioned to the blood covering his front. “That’s why I’m covered in this stuff.” 

Arima hummed sympathetically at this. “Were there any others?”

“There were four others...after I killed two of them, I hit one and...he was a kid. He was younger than we are, and I was going so berserk I didn’t even see who it was I hit…” Fura began shaking violently and clattering his teeth. “I thought I heard somebody cry out ‘ototou!’ and then this girl with huge wings came flying at me, and I nailed her in the head and-” the schoolboy made a sharp, hissing intake of breath as he clutched his bloody hands to his face. “When I saw everything I did, I just…” 

“Fura, I’m sorry. This...this is my fault,” the bluenette said gently. “I knew you had issues with killing them, but I should have realized sooner that you couldn’t stomach i-”

“No, that’s not it!” Fura said quickly. “It’s just, this time was different. Most of the time we were taking them on in back alleys and stuff, and they were always flaunting their egos and going on about how they’d kill us,” the schoolboy shook his head tiredly as tears cascaded down his cheeks. “I...I just thought I’d get used to it like you do-”

“Don’t say that!” Arima said curtly, shocking the student. The bluenette chewed the inside of his lip before sighing. “Nobody should ever get used to _ this _ . This isn’t a hobby, this isn’t supposed to be fun, and you’re not supposed to enjoy the thrill of everything. This is my _ job _, and that’s all it should ever be to anybody. Please don’t ever think like everybody else…” 

Fura stared at the other teen with wide eyes. ‘Just what the hell does he mean by that?’

“I’ll call this in, now come on,” the bluenette said gently as he helped the boy to his feet. “You’re going home, you’re taking a nice and _ long _shower, and then I strongly recommend taking some time off.” 

**———————————————————————**

**Later that day**

“Didn’t I say to take some time off earlier?”

“Well, yeah...but, this isn’t fighting ghouls, is it?”

A tick mark appeared on Arima’s forehead as he sent the other boy a deadpan glare. When he had mentioned offhandedly that he was heading to a restaurant to investigate a suspect, he was expecting Fura to stay put. While the orange-haired teen was still visibly shaken, he was containing himself, and at least had a change of clothes. 

‘Still...I feel like I shouldn’t risk it,’ the bluenette turned to face his partner as they walked towards their destination. “Are you sure you should be tagging along?”

“Like I said, it isn’t killing ghouls, so I should be fine,” Fura said lowly. “S-So, who’s the suspect anyway?”

“A school student, she’s meeting with the principal to pull her records and possibly change schools,” Arima adjusted his glasses and turned away from the other boy with a sour expression. “Our..._ associates _ assured me she’s human, but I’m not entirely convinced. She meets the one qualification we need.”

“Shoe size of 22 cm…” the orange-haired boy said darkly. “How can they be sure she’s human?”

“Katou...apparently, he wants to eat her.”

“...Okay, what?”

“Ghouls don’t often cannibalize their own kind outside of specific circumstances, so I doubt he’d want to eat her if she were a ghoul,” Arima cupped a hand to his chin contemplatively. “He said, and I’m quoting him verbatim, he wanted to ‘tear her hair out follicle by follicle, and eat her scalp and brains’.”

Fura shivered slightly and faced forward with a disdainful look. “Alright, so who’s the suspect then?”

“...You...you aren’t going to like it.”

“Oh come on, I’m not gonna freak out! Just tell-”

“It’s Minami Uruka,” Arima said flatly. Upon seeing his friend gawking at him, the bluenette sighed. “See, I knew you would react like that.” 

“Uh, no shit sherlock! For starters, I’m pretty sure Lantern is a dude, and you’re talking about the hot transfer student who’s been here since the beginning of the year, well after the attacks started, and who also has a huge crush on you!”

“...Beg your pardon?”

“You...you really didn’t know? I mean, granted it like a really small one, and she’s probably hung up on a guy from her last school, but still,” Fura shrugged and turned away from the other boy. “I thought you knew.”

“I don’t really have time for...that…” the bluenette said blankly as he adjusted his glasses. “Nor do I have any interest.”

“Che, yeah alright!” Fura let out a loud chuckle. “When we take down Lantern, I’m totally getting you a girlfriend.” 

“Is that so?”

“Gaah, you’re such a kuudere, y’know that?! Can’t you stop being so-”

“We’re here,” the bluenette said flatly as he grabbed his partner by the collar and pulled him into some nearby bushes. “We have to be as quiet as possible from now on.” 

“Agh, alright! You don’t have to be so rough...that came out wrong.” 

Arima ignored the school boy and crouched down low as he scrutinized the outside dining area of the restaurant. Their classmate/suspect sat alongside an unknown teen with jet black hair wearing slightly ragged clothes, and the two periodically conversed with the three people sitting at the table directly behind them. The bluenette narrowed his eyes as he surveyed each of them, a redhead with equally red eyes, a young boy with black hair and green eyes in, and finally a boy who Arima’s eyes lingered on for a good few minutes. 

He was caucasian, and quite youthful, but the bluenette couldn’t quite pin his age due to his impressive height. His right eye was hidden behind a medical eyepatch, his hair was silvery-white, and he wore a flannel shirt and jeans over his broad frame.

“Interesting…”

“Eh? Oh, you talking about the foreigner kid?” Fura let out a small huff. “Jesus, why are foreigners always so tall? You hear about the short ones, but I’ve never seen any around. It’s always the really tall ones that the girls end up going nuts over in the end.”

“I haven’t actually seen foreigners that much, even for my job,” Arima shook his head and adjusted his glasses. “Regardless, we should focus on the investigation. I know we might not be able to hear much from here, but-”

“Hear much of what?”

***SHINK***

The bluenette unsheathed Yukimura ⅓ instantly, and placed the blade against the neck of the interloper who had snuck up on them. Beside him, Fura had already let out a strangled noise as he had fallen back into a bush. 

The person with Arima’s sword at their neck was a girl their age, wearing the regular school uniform of Seishin High. Her brown hair was done in a bowl cut that framed a cute face with wide-brimmed glasses, and she sported an amused grin. At her side was a large bag that Arima barely acknowledged as he leaned towards her menacingly.

“Wow! Cool sword, where’d you get it?”

The bespectacled boy furrowed his brows in annoyance. “Who are you, and what do you-”

“Eh? Why, I’m shocked you forgot about me, Kishou-kun! It’s me, Fuka-chan!” the girl made a flourishing gesture as she spoke. When she noticed the bluenette’s confusion, her face fell slightly. “Uh, I’m from the school paper, remember? I tried interviewing you one time about the band club, but you were playing hard to get and everything.”

“Oh, I remember you! Inui Fuka…” Arima frowned as the girl scooted closer to him. “You were the girl with no sense of personal space.”

“Yeah, that about sums it up!” she said cheerfully. “So, what are you doing here anyway, Kishou-kun?”

“I believe I was the one to ask that question first.” 

“Fine! I’ll tell you...if you take the sword off my neck.”

“...R-Right, my apologies!” the bluenette said quickly as he sheathed his quinque. “Now then, would you-”

“That sword is so cool! Mind if I-Oh…” Fuka shrunk back at Arima’s cold glare. “Alright, alright! So, I came here because I heard the principal was meeting with the female transfer student everybody is gushing over, and I’ve been hearing some..._ rumours _, about his conduct with young girls.”

“Oh yeah, apparently he’s into younger girls,” Fura said absently. “I didn’t think he’d go for _ that _young though. Like, Minami is a couple decades younger than him.”

“Yeah, and I got pretty suspicious about everything, so I decided if there was ever a time to expose him as a shameless perv, it would be now!” the bespectacled girl held a finger in the air in triumph. She then turned to the two boys with a curious sneer. “Now then...why are Arima Kishou and Fura Taishi spying on our principal during a meeting?” 

“Oi! Who says you can ask us questions?!” Fura hissed. “We don’t have to say anything, so just-”

“I work for the Commission of Counter Ghoul as 3rd Rank Ghoul Investigator, and Fura is my temporary assistant,” Arima began. “We are systematically tracking down, revealing, and killing ghouls within the ward to protect the populace. We are following Minami Uruka due to the fact that we have reason to believe she is a ghoul. We’re tracking her daily routine and documenting any strange behavior. It just so happens that she’s meeting with the principal to pull her records so she can change schools,” the bluenette tilted his head as an annoyed huff escaped his mouth. “Does that answer satisfy you, Inui-san?”

Fuka gaped at the two boys for several seconds before shaking her head. “You guys are serious, aren’t you?”

“Dead serious,” the bespectacled teen said blankly. He tilted his head curiously as he noted the bag at her side. “What do you have in there?”

“Oh, just my recording equipment and stuff,” the brunette blinked when the boy simply stared at her mutely. “Y’know, it’s a bunch of electrical gizmos I modified for eavesdropping on people.”

Unbeknownst to the three in the bushes, the tall white-haired boy had turned to look at them with a shocked expression. He quickly turned back to his friends with a nonchalant demeanor, all while silently listening in on the three humans. 

“Okay, but why though?”

“Like I said, I was coming to sniff out the perv in our principal…this is so much better though! It’s a story I’d cash in on: horrible monsters roaming the halls while two brave heroes charge into the fray and save us all in secret...Kyaa!” Fuka and blushed as she held her hands to her face. “My god, if I weren’t into girls I’d be all over one of you right now.”

“...Excuse you?” Fura asked nervously. 

“Yes, please do excuse yourself,” Arima said flatly. “As soon as possible, if you would be so kind.”

“What, so you’re saying I _ can’t _help?”

“What would we benefit from your help?”

“Uh, hello?! I literally just showed you all my eavesdropping equipment,” the brunette motioned to her bag. “I’ve got all the good stuff! BEDs, modified microphones and megaphones, localized recording devices.”

“...Alright, that would be pretty useful.”

“Do Ghoul Hunters not use those?!”

“Ghoul _ Investigators _, and no, not very often,” Arima shook his head before laying his hands on the girl’s shoulders. “I’m willing to let you help, only because you have useful equipment-”

“How pragmatic of you, Kishou-kun~!”

“However!” the bluenette’s expression turned dark. “You will _ not _ mention this to _ anybody _. You won’t make an article in the school paper, you won’t spread rumours around in the halls, and you won’t post this on those new fancy social media sites or message boards. Are we clear?”

“B-But...but...but-”

“T’s are for sitting,” the bespectacled boy said flatly. “Now I’ll ask again: Do. You. Understand?”

Fuka chewed the inside of her cheek for a few seconds before sighing. “Fine! I won’t say a word about this whatsoever.”

“Good,” Arima hummed as he turned back to Fura. “Now let’s get to eavesdropping.”

“W-What? I’m not sure we should-”

“Fura, shut up and put on some headphones.” 

**———————————————————————**

“Hey, Minami-san!” 

“Is that him?” Moriomi asked nervously.

“Yeah, that’s him,” Minami said quietly as she waved the human over. “Try to act natural, alright.”

“Something just seems off about him,” the dark-haired boy sat up straight and put on a fake smile. “If he says anything-”

“Just relax and keep your mouth shut unless he speaks to you,” the doe-eyed girl growled under her breath. She chewed the inside of her lip as the human finally got to their table. “Thank you for coming today, Takeda-sensei. I didn’t think this sort of meeting would be necessary though, to be honest.” 

The principal of Seishin High was an average man in his mid-to-late 40s, dark hair already showing a few gray strands. He had already sent the girl a smile as he walked over, sheepishly rubbing the back of his head as he sat down.

“Well, I figured you’d like a more personable setting, not some cold and drab office,” the man tilted his head curiously at Moriomi. “And who is this?”

“My boyfriend!” Minami said cheerfully, cutting off the boy before he could interject. “We only _ just _started dating, but we’ve been friends for a long time.”

Takeda deflated slightly at this as his mouth formed into a flat line. “I see...quite unexpected, actually,” there was a sour look as his eyes lingered on the girl for a second, and then he turned to the boy with faux cheerfulness. “So, I can assume you’re helping her move then?”

“Uhh...yeah. I mean, there’s not really much of a choice in the matter-Oof!” the teen sent his childhood friend a comical glare in response to his kicked shin. 

“Good to know she already has you whipped like a dog, eh?” the teacher let out a sardonic chuckle and shook his head. “Now then, let’s get down to business then…”

**———————————————————————**

“Look at the _disappointment_ on his face,” Fuka snorted. “Also, you saw him looking at her breasts, right?”

“We did…” Arima said flatly. 

“I knew I was right! Total perv, and the only thing keeping him from offering her a _ unique _ deal is that poor sap she’s pulled into being her fake boyfriend.”

“I wouldn’t be so sure,” Fura interjected. When he caught the other two gawking at him, he sighed. “They’re definitely childhood friends. You could see it in the way they behave around each other. And based on the way she was looking at him before without him noticing…”

“Oooooohhh...so it’s _ not _entirely bullshit? Huh, interesting…” the brunette turned to the bespectacled boy with a curious expression. “Wait, do Ghouls even care about that? I thought they were mindless animals.”

Arima regarded her words, then a resigned look spread across his face. “They can form special bonds much like, for lack of a better comparison, wolves,” the bluenette chewed the inside of his cheek as the other wordlessly begged him to continue. “Wolves mate for life, and ghouls mate for life. There may be _ some _romantic connection between two ghouls, but it’s much more animalistic and primitive than the connections humans form.”

“Ooh, that’s fascinating! I’m learning all kinds of new things about ghouls,” Fuka said in awe. “Can they really not eat human food?”

“They can not. It tastes disgusting to them, and it is poisonous to them as well. If a ghoul was to eat Human food, it would weaken their body and eventually kill them. The only thing they can stomach is coffee...and, a few other things I won’t go into detail about.”

“Huh, well then they definitely can’t be ghouls,” Fura said blithely. “For starters, they’re all eating human food-”

“Ghouls may fake it,” Arima said tiredly. “I remember telling you that a while back.”

“Well, they seem to be enjoying it,” the orange-haired boy said offhandedly. 

Arima held his binoculars up and furrowed his brows. “What drinks did they order?”

“Coffee, black. The waiter just said it as he brought it over,” Fura’s shoulders sunk when the bluenette leaned forward. “I know that’s a telltale sign of a ghoul, but they’re still able to stomach the food.”

The bespectacled ghoul-hunter frowned at his partner’s words. Minami, her ‘boyfriend’, and their three companions sitting behind them were eating their meals without showing _ any _of the telltale signs. No thinly veiled looks of disgust, no hesitancy as they ate, none of the twitching that would come from the knowledge they were taking in human food.

There was nothing he could pick out, and it was eating away at him, for lack of a better word.

“Huh...the kid ordered a pastry…”

“What did he order, and which kid?” Arima asked.

“The foreigner, and he ordered some sort of roll or something...oh, it has honey on it,” Fura turned to the bluenette with a curious expression. “Can ghouls eat honey? because it’s _ technically _not made by humans.”

“I...I’d imagine no, but I wouldn’t know,” the bespectacled teen frowned as he looked at the foreigner through binoculars. “Also, that boy _ isn’t _a ghoul.”

“How do you _ know _though?” Fuka leaned forward skeptically.

“Because America, Europe, and Japan have those travel policies in place between one-another. Ghouls wouldn’t be able to get into the country from another, no matter what.”

“Are you sure about that though?”

Arima thought it over and huffed. “I am absolutely, 100% sure.” 

“Alright...I mean, if you think there aren’t any cracks to slip through…”

**———————————————————————**

“So you’re already in the process of moving?”

“I am,” Minami said nervously. “It’s just...after the latest attacks, especially the one at school, I just…”

“Don’t feel safe anymore? I understand perfectly,” Takeda said kindly. “I actually just got back from the hospital. Ogata-sensei should make a full recovery, but right now he’s still in critical condition. It’s still hard to believe one of those _ things _was hiding around in the halls like that.”

The doe-eyed girl fought down a flinch as he fists clenched beneath the table. “Yeah, it was pretty unnerving for me. I heard Nerima isn’t as bad, though I might just leave the Wards entirely.” 

“That’d be pretty understandable,” the human said blithely. “You wouldn’t happen to need any help moving, would you?”

“Not in the slightest,” Moriomi said with a slightly strained voice. “Some friends and my...foster brother, are helping us out.” 

“Foster brother, eh? That wouldn’t happen to be the redhead sitting behind you who thinks he’s being discreet, would it?”

The dark-haired teen frowned and turned to look behind them. Tetsuomi sat across from the two younger ghouls at their table, nonchalantly whistling as Moriomi and Minami glared at him. Once he realized the looks he was getting, he flinched. 

“Oh, they’re talking about me aren’t they?” 

“No, there’s another redhead sitting behind us while thinking he’s being discreet,” the dark-haired teen said sarcastically. 

“Oh, nevermind then-” 

“Tetsuo, I was being sarcastic!” Moriomi let out a small grumble as he facepalmed. “Why don’t you go ahead and say hi to Minami’s principal?” 

“Hi Minami’s principal!” the redhead said with a cheerful wave. “How did you know I was listening in anyway?”

“I’m a teacher, son,” Takeda said blithely. “You couldn’t have made yourself any more obvious while you were spying on us.”

“Ehehehe...guess I didn’t take that into account,” Tetsuomi said nervously. 

“So, you’re in a foster situation with them?” the teacher asked skeptically. 

“S-Sorta...we’re on our own now, and we live a while away from each other,” the dark-haired teen rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. “I got my own place and a job while I prepare for uni, so we don’t have a lot of time to hang out.”

“We see each other all the time though, almost every day,” the redhead shrugged before turning back to the younger boys. “And I’m stuck babysitting these two most of the time when our foster parents can’t be there.” 

Takeda tilted his head at the two boys curiously. “Ah, well I’d love for them to introduce themselves as well.” 

Tetsuomi anxiously motioned for the younger dark-haired boy to turn around. “This is Kenta, he’s practically my younger sibling,” the redhead patted the preteen on the head. “He can’t speak though. He...he was in a ghoul attack when he was younger, and he…”

“I see. How awful,” the human nodded solemnly, giving the boy a soft smile. “It’s a pleasure to meet you.” 

The redhead tapped the taller boy’s hand. “Dude, go ahead and introduce yourself.” 

The silver-haired boy flinched at the teen’s chiding and turned around slowly, looking back at the others with a nervous smile. He waved shyly as he looked at the three with his single blue eye, which was erratically darting around as he wilted under the stare of the human.

“M-My name is Riley, it’s nice to meet you,” he said weakly in minutely broken Japanese. 

Takeda’s cheerful demeanor had disappeared the moment he saw the boy’s features. A flash of disgust across his face came and went, but the stare he was giving the tall preteen borderlined a full-on death stare. He gave the girl a strained smile while eyeing the hybrid dangerously. 

“My, my! Just what is _ his _story?” the teacher asked snidely. 

Moriomi cocked an eyebrow in confusion before tilting his head. “Uhh, he moved here with his family a little over half a decade ago. Got a permanent visa and everything,” the teen chewed the inside of his cheek. “They were in an...incident, I guess is the best way to explain it, and he was left orphaned, he’s got nobody left. He lost his eye too, it’s why he wears the patch over it,” he held a hand towards his mouth to cover his voice as a grimace spread across his face. “He’s got a scar, it’s _ really _bad…”

“I see…” hearing this did nothing to diminish the human’s near glare at the boy. 

“Our foster sister is the one who usually spends time with him, we’re just taking care of him while she’s busy with work,” Testuomi finished.

“Interesting...he’s quite tall for his age, isn’t he? How old is he?”

“I-I’m only 11,” the silver-haired boy said nervously. “I mean, I’ll be 12 in a few months, I guess.”

Takeda let out a diluted huff as he scrutinized the boy. “Well that’s certainly interesting, I’ll admit…” 

**———————————————————————**

“...Why does Takeda-sensei seem so...uh, w-what is a good word for it?”

“Angry?” Fuka supplied.

“Like somebody simultaneously took a shit and piss in his drink,” Fura offered.

“All of those, and more,” Arima noted darkly. “It’s like a switch flipped off in his head. The change is distracting.”

“Well, I think it should be quite obvious,” the brunette said smugly. “Takeda-sensei is racist. He hates foreigners, especially white westerners.” 

“...Oh!” the bluenette looked to the girl with a shocked expression. “I didn’t think...I mean, I thought-”

“Are you seriously finding that out _ now _ ? A Ghoul Investigator that’s supposed to look for strange behavior, and an investigative reporter for a school newspaper? ” Fura asked exasperatedly. The orange-haired teen noticed the two and their owlish looks, and sighed. “Takeda-sensei is an ultranationalist, same as most of the school board. I’ve seen him going to meetings back when I was cutting school,” he tilted his head as he watched the man glare at the tall boy. “Dude is probably muttering stuff like ‘filthy baijo’ under his breath. He really _ isn’t _a fan of them...remember that foreign exchange student from a while back?” 

“You mean the cute guy that was expelled for sexual harassment?” Fuka asked in shock. 

“If by sexual harassment you mean confessing to a cute girl he liked, then yes, he was expelled for it,” the schoolboy huffed angrily. “I’ll admit, the guy at least had some balls. He was told he’d be punished severely if he tried to go through with it, and he still pushed on. What they did wasn’t right.”

“Hot damn! This, now _ this _is a scoop! If I can get it all down, then-”

“Nobody would care,” Fura said nonchalantly, causing the other two to stare at him in disbelief. “What, you think the school board would do something about it? Most of them would stand with him, and they’d have hidden any of the evidence of it anyway. All you’d be able to accomplish would be useless accusations that _ might _stain his reputation among everybody else.” 

“A-Aww...damn...so, just try to stick to the pervert thing?”

“Yeah, you might be able to nail him in a year if you’re lucky. He’s been getting a _ lot _bolder with girls as of late,” the orange-haired boy said blithely as he held a device to his ears to listen in. “So, they’re just talking about her transfer...huh, looks like she’s planning on going to cram school instead-”

“I’m sorry, but...how can you be so blasé about this?” Arima asked.

“Bura-what? The hell did you just call me?”

“It’s french for indifference,” the bluenette said calmly. “How can you be so indifferent about that sort of thing?”

“Because that’s how some people are, I guess,” Fura shrugged nonchalantly as he held a pair of binoculars to his eyes. “You just get used to it. Takeda-sensei isn’t gonna stop thinking the way he does, even if he’s put on blast. The most he’ll be sorry for is getting caught.”

Arima frowned slightly before turning away and pushing a pair of headphones to his ears. “If that’s the way you feel then…”

“Oi, Takeda-sensei is getting up!” Fuka hissed. “Get your shit together and start listening in!” 

**———————————————————————**

“No, really Takeda-san, this is my treat,” Moriomi said calmly. 

“I’m really unsure about this, I mean, I wouldn’t just want to leave like this.”

“Well, you seem pretty tired,” the dark-haired teen said offhandedly. “I’m surprised they asked you to come in while students are off.” 

“Work, son, it never stops. I’ve been busy with paperwork and board meetings for days on end after this recent debacle,” Takeda let out a sharp huff. “The CCG isn’t making it any easier either, what with the constant interrogations disguised as ‘meetings’ about student safety.”

“Hey, that’s the government for ya,” Moriomi shrugged. “What are you gonna do? You just deal with it, I guess.” 

“Nice to know somebody empathizes, at least,” the human let out a small chuckle before shaking his head. “Well, if you’re so certain then, I guess I’ll have to ask for a box for this crab salad.”

“If you feel like it. I’m practically stuffed,” the dark-haired boy said cheerfully. “Funny enough, my ‘honey-bunny’ has been eating like a bird.” 

Minami blushed at this before shaking her head. “S-Shut it Morio!” 

“I’ll just leave you to your little ‘couple’s spat’,” Takeda shook his head mirthfully as he waved the waiter over. “Thank you again for lunch, Moriomi-san. And Uruka, I’ll make sure to get your records sorted out for you soon.”

“Thank you so much, Takeda-sensei! I...I really appreciate it, you have no idea-” 

“None of that, Uruka. You’re not the first to ask for this,” the human shook his head as a tired huff escaped his lips. “This entire situation is rather delicate, all things considered. I wish you the best of luck in getting to safety,” he stood up and gave the two a kind smile. “I’ll be taking my leave then. I’ll be sure to pay for my food when I grab it at the desk.”

“W-Wait, I-” Moriomi sighed as the man cocked an eyebrow at him and set him with a semi-frown and rigid jaw. “Alright, that ‘teacher look’ really gives me no room to argue…” 

“It never does,” Takeda let out a small chuckle before he moved to leave. As he walked away from the table, he looked back discreetly as he could, a disgusted sneer tugging at the corners of his lips as he tried to burn a hole into the tall hybrid’s back with his glare. “Damn Baijo brat…”

The dark-haired teen shuddered as the human left, his left eye twitching as he tried his best not to break his coffee mug. “I can’t believe I have to pay for some of that asshole’s lunch,” Moriomi noticed the strained expression on Minami’s face, and frowned. “Did you know?”

“I...I’ve heard rumors. I mean, there’s always gossip about stuff, but still-”

“He was glaring at a kid half the time, just because of his...y’know…”

“Does that even matter?” she muttered in confusion.

“It matters, Uruka. It-”

“It doesn’t bother me,” the half-ghoul cut in. “I’m used to it by now.”

“That’s...horrible…”

“It’s not as bad as you think. Sure, people will glare at me, make underhanded comments, all that, but I probably won’t see them again,” Riley shrugged blithely as he took a sip of his coffee. “It’s not like mean looks or names are gonna be the end of the world for me anyway.”

“Ah, right, the other things...still, I don’t-”

“Morio, just leave it be,” the hybrid said curtly. “He’s gone, we don’t need to make a big deal out of it.” 

“I...alright…” the dark-haired teen leaned back with a tired sigh. “I feel like we should get going pretty soon. Tetsuo, you okay with-”

“Dude, I can pay for these two, no worries,” the redhead said cheerfully. 

“Alright, just gotta pay then,” Moriomi spotted their waiter from the corner of his eye and stood up slightly while raising his hand. “Excuse me! Waiter!” 

**———————————————————————**

“Alright, so...general consensus?”

“They are most likely _ not _ghouls,” Arima said tiredly. 

“So, next suspect?” Fura leaned forward curiously as he pulled out a notepad. “Because we crossed Minami off, so the next one...huh…” the orange-haired teen looked back at the brunette with a strained expression. “You’re not gonna believe this, but-”

“I’m not a ghoul, and I can prove it!” Fuka looked around before sighing. “Just...if I had a knife, I would-”

“She’s not a ghoul, she’s just annoying,” the bluenette said boredly. “Maybe I was wrong about the suspect being so close by…”

“So what’s the plan now?” the brunette tilted her head curiously. “I mean, your suspect was a bust, so you got any other bright ideas?”

“Yes, Plan Z-”

“We are _ not _calling it ‘Plan Z’!” Fura whined. “It’s a stupid name, and it’s a stupid plan. They’re gunning for us too, you know that!”

“...Explanation?”

“That’s beyond your authority as a civilian,” Arima said blankly. 

“Fura is a civilian, and he gets to kill ghouls!” Fuka growled. “What, am I not good enough? Oh, I get what’s going on!”

“Please don’t…” 

“You don’t want me helping because-”

“Please just let me explain-”

“Because I’m a girl!” the brunette finished.

“...Oh, that’s...not what I was expecting...but no, that’s not it,” the bluenette held his hands up and set her with a stern gaze. “It’s because, unlike you, Fura has the minimum amount of both combat skills _ and _information skills needed to handle this. You’re useful, but I don’t plan on risking your life in a situation you’re not prepared for.” 

“So I _ can’t _help you guys?!”

“Maybe this isn’t the best place to have this conversation,” Fura said nervously. “I think some people in the restaurant are getting suspicious.” 

Arima’s shoulders sagged slightly as he turned to the orange-haired teen. “Have they left yet?”

“Well, Minami and her boyfriend...what was his name again? Morio or something, well they’re leaving. Their friends are sticking around for a bit, but other than that they’re heading off.” 

“Then we have no reason to stay here and eavesdrop,” the bluenette said blankly. “We are going to slowly, and discreetly, move out of the bushes.”

“I...b-but I-”

“Pack up your things and move!” Arima said sternly. 

**Several minutes later**

“Alright, so...what’s this ‘Plan Z’ of yours?”

“We have two ghouls...tagged, I guess, would be a good way to put it,” Arima scratched beneath his chin in thought. “We believe they may have regular contact with Lantern, the specific ghoul we’ve targeted above all else.” 

“And you don’t want me to help…”

“I am reluctant to put others in the line of fire. Even when Fura asked, I had to mull it over for more than a day, at least.”

“So what can I do to help?” the brunette asked firmly. 

Fura turned back to her with a suspicious look. “Why should we let you help us though? You literally just came up to us in the bushes, invaded our personal space, and begged us to let you help us,” the orange-haired teen surveyed the surrounding street nervously before sighing. “You wouldn’t be able to handle it, take my word for it.” 

“You’re acting like I plan on fighting,” Fuka said flatly. The two boys nearly facevaulted in shock at her annoyed look. “Yeah, I wasn’t asking for you to just hand me a sword so I could start hacking away at them. I can do other things, y’know!” 

“Like calling for backup in the event that our big trap fails?”

“...You guys have a big trap set up?” the brunette frowned as the two looked at each other nervously. “And you’re not gonna tell me about it, are you?”

“I can go into more detail, but I’m not sure…”

“If we meet up in a few more days, how ‘bout we talk it over more? Does that sound reasonable?” Fuka’s mouth twisted into a cheerful smile at Arima’s slow nod. The girl leaned forward till her face was only an inch away from the bluenette’s, then tapped him gently on the nose. “Thank you so much for hearing me out, Arima-kun~!” 

“Again, personal space much-”

“Hmm?!” the brunette pulled away from Arima as her phone began vibrating. When she saw the caller I.D, a look of euphoria spread across her face. “Haaaah...I’ve gotta go, this is my girlfriend. I’ll see you two later~!” 

Fura’s jaw dropped as the girl ran off, and a groan escaped his throat. “I have no words...that’s just...wow…”

“Fura, no-”

“But, girl on girl-”

“I am not interested,” the bluenette said flatly. 

“Again, I really need to get you a girlfriend,” the orange-haired teen shook his head tiredly. “I think I’m gonna call it a day. I...I haven’t visited Aki in a while.” 

Arima’s jaw clenched, and he turned his head away from the other teen. “Are you really sure about coming tomorrow?”

“I’ll be fine, Arima. I can handle myself when the time comes,” Fura began shuffling away mutely. “I’ll see you tomorrow.” 

“I guess so…” 

**———————————————————————**

“Blrrrrrrgggh…”

Riley flinched and lowered the book he was reading, giving the redhead a nervous look. “Are you sure you don’t want any help?”

“N-No, I’m-” Tetsuomi held a hand to his mouth as his skin went green for a split second. “I-I’m good, man. Just gonna get through it till those two are done…”

The half-ghoul once again flinched as the other two teens retched and gagged as they expelled the human food from their stomachs. Nearby, the mute preteen had curled himself into a ball while letting out pained grunts, a pitiful expression across his face. 

“You sure _ you’re _alright? I mean, that guy at lunch-”

“I’m fine, I already said it was no big deal,” the tall boy said reassuringly. “You sure you don’t want a paper bag or something?”

“Or something,” the redhead deadpanned. 

_“Y’know, it’s probably a good thing you didn’t call that old guy at lunch out~” _ the illusion singsonged. _ “If you had said anything, he probably would have made you out to be the ‘big scary gaijin punk’ and that he was ‘scared for his life’, and all that.”_

Riley swallowed a lump in his throat as he tried to ignore the myriad of voices screeching into his ears. He flinched slightly and turned just as the nearby bathroom opened, revealing a haggard looking schoolgirl and her childhood friend looking half-dead. Minami shuddered as she walked over to the fridge, twitching all the way. 

“God, I really need a bath,” the girl pulled out two jugs of very red liquid, easily recognized by the others in the room. When she noticed their blank stares, she glared back. “What?! Do you have a problem with this?”

“With...what, exactly?” Riley asked shyly. 

“Do we even want to know?” Tetsuomi asked tiredly. 

“She bathes in human blood to hide her scent from other ghouls,” Moriomi said weakly. “It...kinda works, I guess. I mean, she smells human, but if she doesn’t wash it right she sometimes smells like blood.”

“Only if I don’t bathe normally _ after _I do the blood bath,” Minami narrowed her eyes at the silver-haired boy with a huff. “Why are you worried anyway? You do it too.”

Riley froze at this, and shifted around on the couch nervously. “Uhh...sure, we could go with that.” 

“Welp, if the bathroom is open then-” the redhead didn’t finish, instead running inside and locking the door behind him, already retching as he removed the poisonous material from his body. “Ugggghh!” 

The doe-eyed girl winced at the gagging noises before turning away with a huff. “How did you know about the pork anyway?”

“So it _ was _tasteless?” the tall boy asked. 

“Just like you said, yeah.”

A smirk tugged at the corners of Riley’s lips as he held his book up to read. “My mom always told me about it, so I just took her word for it.”

“Huh, so it’s some American trick then, huh?” she furrowed her brows in thought as she turned to him. “Why aren’t you getting rid of it? You ate more than just pork, so it’ll start up sooner if you don’t get it out of your system.”

“He’s taller,” Moriomi said weakly as he sat down nearby, shuddering from the lingering effects of the human food. “He can wait a little longer for the other two.”

Minami looked at the boy suspiciously before turning away with a huff. “If you’re sure he’ll be alright, then-” the doe-eyed girl froze when a firm knocking resounded from her door. When she shuffled over to look through the peephole, a shudder ran through her. “It’s my landlord…” 

The dark-haired teen jolted upright and turned to his childhood friend. “That’s bad, isn’t it? It can’t be too bad, right?!”

“Just calm down, I’ll handle this,” Minami took a deep breath and opened her door, a bright smile sitting on her face. “Mizuho-san, it’s so good to see you!” 

The woman who had all but barged into the apartment the moment the doe-eyed girl had greeted her was a statuesque blonde with a full figure and gorgeous face. Upon spotting the three boys in the living room and hearing the retching noises from the nearby bathroom, she cocked an eyebrow and stared at the brunette. 

“I didn’t know you had gotten roommates?” 

“Uh, so the thing about that…”

**Several minutes later**

“Is that so?” Mizuho tilted her head as the doe-eyed girl finished her piece. The blonde’s gaze roamed over the other two teens, then to the two younger boys. “The 24th, huh? You’re really that worried?”

“I...I guess so…”

The woman glanced at the girl suspiciously before sighing. “Uruka, you’ll be fine down there. It isn’t that bad.”

“But it feels like this is all my fault. Like, if I leave now I’m basically cutting and running while leaving everybody to fend for themselves over my mist-”

“Quiet! You know that wasn’t _ your _fault,” the blonde steepled her fingers as a tick mark appeared on her forehead. “Asura went on a rampage not even last night, and the doves aren’t even doing anything about it.” 

“So he’s still _ in _the ward?” Minami clicked her teeth angrily at her landlord’s nod. “Why am I not surprised…”

“I’m also pretty glad I have an explanation for the basement,” Mizuho tilted her head towards the four boys with a flat look.

“It was Riley’s fault!” Tetsuomi noticed the glare the tall hybrid was giving him, and amended his remark. “Okay, it was Riley _ and _Kentetsu’s fault! There, you happy?!” 

Neither of the two preteens looked happy. 

“Oh, that’s not a problem!” the blonde let out a cheerful giggle. “They’re just kids, it’s not too big of a deal.”

“Oh...oh, thank god…” the redhead sank to the floor with a sigh of relief. “And I still feel like shit from eating...heh.” 

“You didn’t just come here for a house inspection though, is that right?” Minami flinched at her landlord’s slow nod. “Alright, what happened?” 

“Yamori and Katou, they’ve been scouring any parts of the Ward that haven’t been made a disaster area,” the blond narrowed her eyes at the girl with concern. “They’re looking for Lantern...and I have a feeling _ ‘he’ _ should put a stop to it.”

Minami turned away with gritted teeth and clenched fists. ‘Those bastards...what the hell do they want anyway?’

“The doves also got to Kumira,” Mizuho said with a faux grim tone. “Truly, it was a sad occasion that we lost him, of all people.”

“...Wait, Kumira? You mean...that guy that was always going ‘you wanna fuck my mother, right?’,” the doe-eyed girl ignored the redhead’s sputtering as she leaned towards her landlord. “What’s so bad about him dyin-oh!”

“Exactly!” the blonde stood up and made to leave, giving the brunette a soft smile. “Minami, whatever you do now...please, be careful.” 

“I will, I promise. Thank you, Mizuho-san.” 

Mizuho gave the girl a slow nod as she walked to the front door. Before she left, her eyes zeroed in on the tall half-ghoul, and an exasperated laugh escaped her mouth.

“Even after all these years, they still never check the boats…” 

Riley blinked a few times as soon as the woman left, then shook his head. “Huh, how ‘bout that…”

“Huh...guess I should have realized that, huh? I mean, there are natural blondes, but she’s a whole new level…” the doe-eyed girl frowned when she noticed the redhead twitching nervously. “What’s up with you?”

“Well, aside from the tiny amount of human food I have processed...that Kumira guy…”

“Oh yeah, nobody really liked him, but we just ignored his bullshit unless he bothered us-”

“I kinda ripped off his hand and ate it!” Tetsuomi blurted out. 

“...What?!”

“Well, he cornered those two in an alleyway,” he pointed to the two younger boys as they shied away from the rest of the group. “So I ripped off his hand and ate it...might have gone overboard, but still…” 

“You...eat...hands?”

“Yes...I mean, you’ve probably eaten them before, right?”

“But you go _ specifically _for the hands?” 

“I was hungry for hands, alright!”

“Tetsuo…” the dark-haired teen let out a low groan. “Please do _ not _continue-”

“My stomach was making the rumblies-”

“Tetsuo!”

“That only hands could satisfy,” the redhead finished cheerfully. 

“You should see how he handles faces…” the half-ghoul mumbled. 

Minami looked between the tall boy and the redhead with a shocked expression. “What do you do to _ faces _?” the doe-eyed girl grimaced when Kentetsu wrote it down for her. “That’s...weird…”

“Oh, coming from the girl who bathes in blood? I don’t judge _ you _for your quirks...plus, the guy was asking for it! And how can you expect me to waste a perfectly delicious face!” 

“How is it decided whether or not a _ face _is delicious?” Riley asked absently. 

“At no point should that be a question _ anybody _asks…” Moriomi deadpanned. The dark-haired teen noticed the hybrid’s dejected expression. “What’s eating at you?”

“...Inui Fuka, Fura Taishu, and Arima Kishou,” his silver hair shadowed his eyes as the doe-eyed girl let out a short gasp. “The only reason I know their names is because they wouldn’t shut up while they were spying on us.”

“S-Spying?! How?!” Minami grimaced when the quiet boy wrote it down for her. “They weren’t even that far away! How did we not notice?!” 

“We were kinda in the process of poisoning our bodies to go incognito…” Tetsuomi turned to the tall boy with a hopeful expression. “Did it work?”

“S-Sort of...they’re _ pretty _sure we’re not ghouls…”

“Woohoo!”

“You’re welcome, by the way.” 

The doe-eyed girl sighed at this. “Thank you, Riley, really. Now we know to be more careful-”

“Oh, I was talking about me. I’m the reason they think we’re humans…” the hybrid shrunk meekly at the teen’s confused expressions. “Apparently the prodigy investigator mutant guy doesn’t know that boats exist, and therefore ghouls can’t be white people,” Riley made a half-hearted fist bump. “Yay, racism saved our lives.”

“That’s….mildly disheartening…”

“Hey, it’s a gift horse, so don’t look it in the mouth,” Riley said offhandedly. 

“Still, the pork _ probably _helped,” Minami tapped her chin in thought. “Still...if it’s Arima, he’s not gonna be fooled so easily. He’s from the garden place, right?”

“Yup! Total mutant...wonder if they pay him or not,” Tetsuomi shook his head with a sigh. “If my hunch is right, then he still suspects you. It’s been beaten into his head that when he’s figured the case out, he can never be wrong, so he won’t stop investigating us.”

“Good to know…” the doe-eyed girl turned away with a small huff. “It’s a real shame too...I thought he was kinda cute.” 

Moriomi sputtered at this, his left eye twitching as the girl let out a small chuckle. “Y-You’re joking, right?!” 

“Nope! I mean, he was a total kuudere, and he was a little weird...but still, he had that geeky charm, and he had a cute butt.” 

The dark-haired teen deflated at this. “I think I still feel a bit queasy…” 

“Same!” Tetsuomi grunted. “This is the worst pain…”

“Well, good luck dealing with it. I have my own bathroom to vomit in, and I’ve gotta make sure I put these to good use,” the girl held up two of the blood-filled jugs. “Please try to aim _ away _from the sink. I have personal experience with the mess that makes.”

The two teenage boys grimaced as the girl walked into her room, closing the door with a louder than normal thud. Both of them let out pained groans as they slowly crawled towards the bathroom, their stomachs already threatening to burst forth another deluge of rejected food. 

Nearby, a weakened Kentetsu wormed his way onto the couch and began tapping the half-ghoul’s shoulder to get his attention. Riley looked up from his book with a sheepish expression, eyeing the two older boys nervously as they clambered into the bathroom. 

“Is something wrong?”

The mute boy pulled out his notepad and weakly turned to a blank page. His handwriting was akin to chicken scratch, completely unfocused, but somewhat legible enough that the half-ghoul could read it. 

‘Minami isn’t in the bathroom.’

“...I...well, that’s her choice-”

‘Went into closet, grabbed something, then left through window.’

“You mean she’s _ not _in the apartment?” the hybrid’s shoulder sunk meekly at Kentetsu’s slow nodding. “Well w-what? Should we tell them?”

The quiet boy shook his head and began to write again. ‘I have an idea. Can you grab me some of the spare food we brought?’ 

**———————————————————————**

**Shibuya Ward, Tokyo**

**Sunset**

Minami could see her heavy breathing in the cold air as her blood pounded in her ears. Her disgustingly large pumpkin mask, which already made moving around difficult, overheated quickly and caused beads of sweat to cascade down her face. She could barely hear the sounds around her as she ducked and weaved through alleyways and jumped across roofs. All she could focus on was her destination.

Even after she had reached the unoccupied construction site, she remained on edge. She used her kagune to scale a massive platform and took a seat at the edge, looking around cautiously as she attempted to get a read on the area. It wasn’t even a minute before she felt the most pure, undiluted form of disgust and irritation well up within her being.

“Look who _ finally _showed up!” a sardonic voice slithered into the air like a snake as Yamori made his presence known. The bandana-masked ghoul leapt through the air and landed on one of the platforms across from hers. “Good to know we’re important enough for you to crawl out of that hole you’ve been hidin’ in.” 

The disguised girl didn’t even need to ask what he meant by ‘we’, because the feeling of disgust only grew as another shape flew above her. Katou landed on one of the adjacent platforms, giving her a sneer as he sheathed his ukaku. 

“You smell...different…” the blonde tilted his head mockingly. “Vomit, huh? Wonder if we could take you out now.” 

“You wouldn’t get the chance,” she growled harshly. 

Both of them blinked at her in confusion, then the taller one leaned forward. “The hell is wrong with your voice?”

“Voice changer,” Minami smirked beneath her mask as she tapped beside the jagged mouth at their surprised expressions. “They go for about ¥600 at the corner store, last I checked.” 

“Sounds like you’re getting paranoid,” Katou teased, wiggling his finger all while a snarl threatened to spread across his face. “You’re sitting back pretty while everybody else is dealing with the fallout of _ your _little hissy-fit. You got some real balls, kid!”

The girl clicked her teeth angrily at this. “Oh, and you clearly don’t. Otherwise, you’d be mouthing off to Asura,” her mouth twisted into the wide grin when the two sweatdropped. “Now what the hell do you want?” 

“Getting right to it, aren’t we?” the blonde hissed lowly. “Y’know, I was always ready to deal with the doves...I just didn’t expect them to come in _ pocket-size _.”

Yamori let out a low chuckle and cocked his head to the side. “Funny thing about them, huh? Just a pair of school students...but one’s pretty tough for a brat, and the other has a Ghoul Investigator’s weapon…” the brutish ghoul leaned forward with a wild look in his eyes. “Funny, isn’t it?”

“I fail to see the humor in it,” Minami huffed when she noticed the glares they were giving her. “You’re acting like this is _ my _problem. Why should it bother me?”

“Because they’re after you, shitstain!” the taller ghoul growled. “They’re searching for _ you _, and we’re taking the heat-” 

“Haven’t I always said it’d be easier for me if you two died?” she let out a small chuckle at their flat expressions. “So what, you want me to do something about them? Why search the entire ward then?”

“Because we have a plan to take them out,” Katou gave her a cold expression as he hunched forward. “A couple of guys got together and figured out a trap for them, and we’re here to bring you in for it.” 

“You say that as though I don’t have a choice-”

“Because you fucking don’t!” the blonde hissed. “This is _ your _mess, so you have to be there to help clean it up! Understand?!” 

Minami stared at them blankly through her mask, unable to shake the feeling that _ something _about this wasn’t right. After staring them down with gritted teeth for a full minute, she let out a sigh that escaped the voice changer as a distorted grumble. 

“Fine! I’ll come and help out, but after that I’m done,” the ghoulette clenched a fist angrily as she activated her kakugan. “I’m leaving for the 24th with a friend by the end of the week, so that’s it for me, I’m out of all of this. If I hear that one of you is after me to start some shit again, you’ll regret it.”

“You have a friend? Pfft! Yeah right!” Yamori leered at the masked girl as he tilted his head towards the blonde. “Can you believe this guy, Katou? Friends, he says! Ha!”

Katou ignored her low, distorted growl, and pulled a paper airplane from his pocket. Minami sweatdropped as the flying piece of parchment looped around in the air a few times before crashing before her feet. 

“That’s the time and place for tomorrow. Don’t be late…” 

**———————————————————————**

**24th Ward, Tokyo**

“Agh! Son of a bitch!” Eric steaded himself against the walls of the stone tunnel as he watched his wounds healing slowly. The tall teen winced as his broken and dislocated arm snapped back into one piece. “This bites! How the hell was I supposed to know the shrimpy blonde dude had a kakuja?! Fucking sprung it on me outta nowhere…” 

The half-ghoul looked around with a sour expression as he surveyed his surroundings. There was nothing but a cold, endless tunnel barren of any living things. Somewhere far-off, he swore he could hear the sound of wind, but it sounded hollow and mirthless.

Eric dusted his hat off while sighing at the state of his uniform. “Fan-tucking-fastic! Uniforms in my size cost so much, I can’t even…” the teen took a deep breath as he replaced his hat. “At least I know where my shitty little brother is. Now I just have to figure out how to infiltrate the damn pla-” 

The tall hybrid froze when he heard soft footfalls slowly approaching nearby. A small figure trudged around a bend, muttering to themselves angrily in a tired whisper. As they grew closer, the tall teen could better pick out their finer features. 

He knew she was a girl due to the exposed, shapely legs and dainty feet that were clad in bandage-like wrappings. She wore a billowing cloak topped with a large hood that hid most of her features, save for the lower half of a heart-shaped face. More surprising, however, were the two _ very _familiar greyish-red wings that trailed behind her. 

Eric’s eyes went wide as the girl unknowingly approached him. ‘Ho-ly shit! What kind of insane luck is this?!’ the corners of his mouth twitched as he fought down a smirk. ‘Screw it! Don’t ever look a gift horse in the mouth, Eric.’

The giant waited till the girl was close enough before he slithered out of the shadows, making sure to place his large frame around so she couldn’t move past him while stealthily snaking his kagune towards her. His smile twisted into a disgustingly smug grin as the girl raised her head slightly, revealing a single kakugan glowing beneath her hood. 

“You’re Ukina’s daughter, right?” he parted his lips to show his teeth as the smaller hybrid’s skin went several shades lighter. He took a single step forward while letting a small chuckle escape his throat. “You have no idea how _ big _of a reward I’ll get for capturing you sweetie-”

The tall teen dodged to his right as a blast of ukaku shards fired his way. Eric cocked his head to the side with a scowl as she raised her wings again to prepare for an attack.

“B-Back off!” she growled shakily. 

“Yeeeeeaaaaah, I’m gonna go with no,” he raised his kagune from the darkness just as extra spines and limbs began sprouting across its length. “See, the others have been searching for you for maybe 10 odd years, and never got shit. So you can imagine that a newbie like me isn’t gonna give you the chance to ru-”

The giant raised his arms to shield himself as another deluge of ukaku shards flew his way. He let out an enraged huff as he brought his hands down, and a deranged smile stretched across his face. 

“Fine then, if that’s how it’s gonna be…” Eric raised his kagune and poised it into the air, directing the tip towards the smaller hybrid. “Be a good little hole and stand still. This won’t hurt a bit!”

Electricity danced across the length of the tall hybrid’s tail, culminating in bright arcs that crackled into the air, hitting the walls and ground of the tunnel. The giant let out a crazed cackle as his tail stabbed forward with a stiff motion, the electricity quickly coalescing at the tip before departing as a bolt of lightning that speared towards the smaller half-ghoul. 

The hooded girl jumped back just in time to avoid the attack, her jaw dropping as the bolt exploded upon impact. As the remaining sparks dissipated into the ground, she raised her head to stare at the tall boy in shock. 

Then she let out a high-pitched squeak, raised her wings up slightly, and flew away as fast as she could. 

“Aye! Get back here!” the tall hybrid cried out. His kagune split into multiple tails which he then stabbed into the ground and walls, using them to vault into the air after her. “If I don’t capture you, I don’t get a fat bonus!”

His only response was another barrage of ukaku shards spearing his way. 

The giant let out an annoyed grunt as he pulled several spikes from his bodyl. _ “Heh...mom always said a goal could turn a random walk into a chase,” _ he mused in english. A disturbingly twisted smile spread across his face as his kagune tails morphed into skeletal arms covered in eyes. _ “Let’s see if you can make this one interesting, sweetheart…” _


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright, so this chapter rewrite is longer than any of the others. That coincides with the fact that I'm basically just gonna rewrite the entire story. It's a personal decision, and one that came about after I got the Rona and an ear infection in succession with one another, and was given a lot of time to think about many things in life. Apologies if you enjoyed the subsequent chapters I had up before, but they're not gone. I'll rewrite them, and there'll be a bunch of new ones either before or in between to help improve the overall story. I mean, I have to make sure my OC goes through like 2 or 3 more DEHs before he actually gets together with Eto, and I have to make sure each DEH is worse than the last.

* * *

**Shibuya Ward, Tokyo**

**Apartment roof**

**Dusk**

Minami's eyes fluttered open as she tried to decipher the blurry figure looming across her vision. She lifted her hand weakly, trying to reach out for the person she could only barely see. She registered a small grunt nearby that somehow sounded far away, and large hands tightened their grip on her as her body grew limper in their grasp.

"This is as good a place as any," a voice echoed as she felt herself being laid down gently. Her chin was grasped lightly, and a small curse was hissed out as her head was turned. "Damn it! Minami, stay awake, please!"

The doe-eyed girl blinked as her vision cleared slightly, and she was treated to a pair of concerned blue eyes gazing down at her warily. Minami's lips twitched as she tried to smile, and her hand reached towards the silver-haired boy weakly.

"Rai..riiii..." she slurred out. "H-Heeey, you were carrying me huh…hehe...you have very soft hands…" the ghoulette made an attempt to lift herself off the ground, only to fall back limply with a short grunt. "Mmmm...what happened?"

"You were attacked by the doves. We saved you," the doe-eyed girl eyed him weakly as he motioned to his side, most likely to Kentetsu. The mute teen did not make himself heard, obviously. The tall boy leaned over her and gently cradled her head. "You...you're injured, you lost a lot of blood."

"Ohoho, yeah I did," she wheezed out. "That explains the whole...dying thing...hehe…" Minami tilted her head when she noticed the patch of blood on the side of the silver-haired boy's head. "Ooooh, sorry...I got you dirty."

"Huh? Oh, this?" Riley palmed the side of his head and frowned when he noticed the blood. "It's not your fault, really. That one guy with the bat nailed me a few times...is it bad that I feel a bit dizzy?"

"Prolly…" the ghoulette squirmed in place weakly as a stuttering sigh escaped her lips. "I'm never gonna get to tell him, aren't I?"

"You're not dying tonight...or ever," the tall boy said firmly. "You just need to eat," he stood up and walked over to a nearby body, leaning down to tear pieces off. "I brought food with us...it's the best I could get at short notice."

"Huh...you grabbed somebody on the way here?" Minami asked as she tried to lift herself up again. "You coulda grabbed food from my fridge-"

"We didn't have time...also, I don't like killing humans," Riley let out an anxious sigh as he turned to look at her. "This is that blonde guy. Y'know, he's one of those ghouls that helped the doves with their trap."

The ghoulette's eyes shot open as a rush of adrenaline spread through her. In a heartbeat she had gone from feebly grasping onto her life, to backing away with a snarl like a cornered animal. The two younger ghouls stared at her in shock as she growled at them.

"Minami, take it easy! You're weak, you've lost blood, and you need to eat-"

"And I won't eat _that_!" she hissed at the tall boy as he held one of Katou's severed arms up. "I don't cannibalize! I will _never _cannibalize! You can't make me!"

"You could die!" Riley cried out. The tall boy's palm met his face as he let out an exasperated curse in english. "_You can't seriously be doing this? This hill? You'd let yourself die over this?"_

"It's better than being crazy!" she growled.

"...Excuse you-"

"You fucking heard me!" she roared. "Look at you! Look at both of you! You live in the 24th, and you're only kids!" froth and spittle erupted from her mouth as she glared madly at the two of them. "You're both batshit insane! I know it! He can't even talk, who the fuck knows what's going through his head, he's probably fucked up as hell!"

Kentetsu nervously shuffled in place at the girl's mad raving, unable to look either of the other two in the eye. Riley's jaw had dropped the moment she had started yelling, and he could barely form words as the ghoulette began chewing on the tips of her fingers.

"M-Minami, calm down, please! We're just trying to help-"

"Don't fucking talk to me!" the girl half-whined, half-yelled. "I don't care if I die, I don't care if I die! As long as I don't become a fucking maniac, I'm fine with it, I'm fine with it!"

The tall boy chewed the inside of his cheek as he turned away from her. "You don't exactly sound sane right now, so it's a moot point."

"Shut up! Shut up, shut up, SHUT UP!" Minami let out a mad giggle as she looked up. "You're no better, aren't you! You kill and eat other ghouls, don't you?"

"I...I don't-"

"How many other ghouls have you killed, huh Riley?"

"I didn't mean to-"

"You'd kill and eat your friends, you would! I know you would!"

"I wouldn't!"

"You'd kill and eat me too, wouldn't you?!"

"I wouldn't ever do that! Minami, you're not thinking straight-"

"I bet you'd eat your family, huh? Would you kill and eat your own mom Riley? Would you?!"

Riley's eyes went wide at this, his jaw dropped to the floor, and his entire body went stiff. A shudder went through the tall boy, and his grip hardened on the severed arm he held to the point that he had crushed the bone and flesh nearly to a pulp. The half-ghoul's right eye burned as his vision turned red.

The silver-haired boy charged forward and grabbed the girl roughly by the throat, pulling her into the air while growling directly into her face. Minami's manic state was shattered back to reality when she felt the large hand nearly crushing her throat, and her eyes widened at the sight of the boy's single kakugan.

"Don't ever say that again!" Riley roared. "If you ever say that around me again, you die!" the half-ghoul clawed at his head injury while baring his teeth angrily. "You...you bitch! You don't know what life I've lived, you don't get to judge me! Doesn't matter if you're dying, you don't get to do that!"

The tall boy dropped her to the ground and grabbed her chin to keep her from closing her mouth. The ghoulette went pale as he forced the severed arm towards her mouth, and turned away.

"I'm not a cannibal!" she whined. "I'm not like you!"

"You're right, you're not," the hybrid said blankly. The veins around his right eye blackened and pulsated sickeningly "I'm a cannibal no matter what. You get to have a choice," he shoved the severed arm forward again. "Eat it, or die. Those are your only options here…"

* * *

**Several hours earlier**

"...Are you guys sure about this?" Minami asked the two other teens with an unsure expression. She looked between them as they stood to the sides of her landlord, and chewed the inside of her cheek. "I thought you'd be busy helping me pack or something."

"You're practically packed up already," the redhead deadpanned. "Plus, I'm imagining there might be some reward…" Tetsuomi wiggled his eyebrows towards the blonde, only to flinch back when she turned to him with a raised brow. "Y-Y'know, like money or something."

"How bout 'or something'?" Mizuho sniggered. "Think of this as you paying me back for the training room."

The redhead winced at this. "Y-Yeah, there's that too, I guess…"

Moriomi shook his head tiredly before facing his childhood friend. "You sure you don't want me to come with? You said you were meeting up with friends, right?"

"What? Are you trying to keep me to yourself?" the doe-eyed girl teased.

"I just figured you'd like them to meet your 'boyfriend' before you move," the dark-haired teen said with a smirk.

"S-Shut it!" Minami waved a hand towards him with a threatening look. The ghoulette turned to her landlord with an exasperated look. "How did you even get these idiots to help you, Mizuho?"

"I just said that I'd like a 'strong, strapping young man' to 'help me with difficult work involving hard to reach places'," the blonde said with a minutely seductive tone.

"...So, the tall one?"

Mizuho sweatdropped at this. "Y-Yes, the tall one. I have really high shelves, and I get back problems when I try to handle it myself…"

Riley sunk further into his spot on the couch and desperately tried to bury his nose deeper into his book. "S-Sorry, I didn't-"

"It's alright sweetie," the blonde said kindly. "To be honest, with all the labels I have, I'd imagine you might get confused. I can tell you're Japanese isn't very fluent."

The silver-haired boy chewed the inside of his cheek at this, and muttered something weakly in english. Mizuho's shoulders sunk slightly, and she shook her head tiredly, before turning back to the two teens.

"What are those two gonna be up to anyway?"

"Sight-seeing," the redhead said boredly. "Riley hasn't been topside in...a while, and Kenta has never been topside," Tetsuomi shrugged while eyeing the mute boy. "Apparently they're interested in checking things out."

"There's not much to see," Minami snarked. "Aside from the train station with the dog statue, and the one with the shopping center..." the doe-eyed girl's eyes lit up as the two boys shrunk in place meekly. "You guys aren't actually going shopping, are you?"

"W-Well, my default outfit is either a t-shirt and sweatpants, a black hoodie, or," the tall boy motioned to his ugly, beaten up flannel shirt and jeans with a grimace. "_This_..."

"Do they even have anything in your size?" Tetsuomi asked dumbly.

"Hopefully they will," the silver-haired boy shrugged.

"Well, stay safe then," Moriomi grimaced as the blonde woman waited for them to follow. "Those two doves-ghoul hunters, or whatever they are, they might still be casing us."

"Relax, I'll be fine," the ghoulette waved him away. "You've got work to do, don't you?"

The dark-haired teen cringed as Tetsuomi was dragged out the door by his ear. "I have that cut out for me…" Moriomi sighed quietly as he made to leave. He quickly turned back to the doe-eyed girl with a soft smile. "Hey, try to stay safe, Uruka-chan."

Minami stiffened at this, and turned away shyly. "I-I'll try to-" the ghoulette sagged when she noticed that her childhood friend was already gone. "Ah, okay...later then…"

The doe-eyed girl eyed the two preteens suspiciously, leaning forward as she watched the mute boy packing his bag. She tilted her head towards the tall one, and a puzzled expression settled on her face as she noticed the cover of the book he was reading.

A few seconds later, Riley suddenly had the unnerving feeling he was being watched. The hybrid lowered the book, and turned to Minami with a withering gaze.

"C-Can I help you-"

"What book are you reading?" the brunette furrowed her brows when she noticed the boy's small blush. "Because it looks like a fantasy novel, considering all the fancy...I don't even know what those are called, but they're that weird design thing you see on all fantasy novels."

"Yes! Yes, it's a fantasy novel...sorta a comedy too," Riley shuffled in place as he tried to hide the book. "It's just something my mom left me and all."

"What's it called?" Minami leaned forward with a suspicious glare. "I can't read english that well, y'know? If it's that good, I might wanna find a japanese copy…" the doe-eyed girl blinked when she heard the boy mutter something in english. "What? What did you just say?"

"The book...I don't know how to say the name in japanes-" the tall boy froze when Kentetsu shoved a piece of paper towards him, and sighed when he glanced at it. "It's called 'The Princess Bride'. You happy?"

"...Pfft!"

"Shush!" the silver-haired boy whined. "It's not what you think-"

"It sounds like a romance novel," Minami said in between giggles.

"It isn't...okay, it is, but it's also a comedy...it's complicated."

"Yeah, sure it is," the brunette teased.

"It's about a girl who falls in love with her stable boy-"

"Romantic~" Minami sing-songed.

"Then they're separated when he goes out to see so he can earn enough money to marry her-"

"Romantic~"

"Then he gets killed by a pirate," the tall boy said blankly.

"...N-Not very romantic anymore," the doe-eyed girl wheezed out. "So what, she's a princess?"

"No, the prince of the kingdom asks her to marry him-"

"Oh, so it's about a charming prince coming in to comfort her in her loss and show her how to love again?" Minami clasped her hands together as a smile stretched across her face. "That's actually really sweet-"

"So that he can secretly have her killed, then pin it on another country so that he can go to war with them," Riley shook his head and picked up the book again. "So then, the pirate that killed the stable boy she loved has to come in and save her."

The brunette gave him an owlish look as she tried to process this. "H-How is this a romance novel again?"

"...I guess you'd have to read it to understand," Riley said weakly. "I did say it was complicated."

"Can't you just tell me?!"

"That'd be spoiling it," the tall boy chided gently. "I've been told that if I spoil novels, I'll have bits of my face cut off."

"Who told you that?!"

"Kosshi, but she said that to everybody," Riley shrugged blithely at the girl's terrified look. "And she only said so because Neko spoiled 'A Clockwork Orange' for us."

"Oof! That's...a fair reaction," Minami said absently. The doe-eyed girl scooted forward as a small grin stretched across her face. "So you guys are going shopping, right?"

"W-Well, that's not what we were planning specifically...Kenta, you wanted to see that dog statue, right?" Riley tilted his head as Kentetsu showed him his notepad. "Oh, and there are those gardens I wanted to see."

"But you're doing _some _shopping, right?" the ghoulette clasped her hands together with a cheerful giggle when the two of them nodded. "I was gonna meet up with some friends, and it's not too out of the way. Is it alright if I come?"

"W-Well, I-" the tall boy flinched back as the girl gave him a puppy-dog eyed look while batting her eyelashes. "I wasn't gonna say no, just that we don't wanna break our bank."

"You guys have money? How?" Minami blinked when the quiet showed her a piece of paper from his notepad.

'All of our current income was gained through perfectly legal and non-violent means,' the note said. Kentetsu gave the girl a wink, only to sigh quietly at her confused look, and scribble a bit more. 'That means that we totally _haven't _robbed anybody within the past year.'

"Oh...right!" the ghoulette winked and made little finger-guns towards the mute boy. "Yes, I too have totally _not _robbed anybody within the past year."

"I have," Riley said flatly. At their confused looks, the tall boy shrugged. "He was my older brother, and he left his wallet in _that _place unattended. Serves him right."

"...Y-You have a brother?"

"I...it's complicated…"

"Hey, whatever it is, you don't have to say anything about it," Minami lifted herself off the couch with a grunt and headed towards her room. "I'm gonna get ready...oh, right! I'm probably gonna have to coach you on how to deal with one of my friends."

"W-Why?" the silver-haired boy's face fell when she left before answering him. He looked back to Kentetsu with a nervous look. "Should we be worried about her friends?"

'I have no idea. I was gonna go change,' the mute boy tilted his head thoughtfully before he scribbled some more. 'What about you?'

Riley let out a small sigh and turned back to his book. "I'll wait for you to finish first."

As soon as Kentetsu had shut the door to their temporary room, the hybrid placed his book down with a disgusted expression. Next to him, the hallucination of his dead sister swayed in place with a cheerful hum.

"You have something to say, right?" Riley chewed the inside of his cheek as the illusion let out a soft giggle. "Just get it over with."

_"Were you anywhere near the part where Wesley was getting tortured?"_ the phantom smirked as the half-ghoul turned away from it. _"That must hit pretty close to home, huh? You tried the same thing Wesley did too, right? If only for a bit at least."_

Riley clenched his fists as the false vision leapt onto the couch and wrapped its arms around him. There was no shock of impact on the furniture, and the feeling around his arms was almost nonexistent; a phantom sensation from his old memories.

_"'The machine reached everywhere-his eyes were not his to control and his ears could not hear her gentle loving whisper',"_ the illusion made a cheerful hum at the tall boy's pained grunt. "'_And his brain slid away, slid far from love into the deep fault of despair, hit hard, fell again, down through the house of agony into the county of pain. Inside and out, Westley's world was ripping apart and he could do nothing but crack along with it'."_

"_Are you done?"_ the hybrid turned away coldly. "_I don't need a stroll down memory lane. I already skipped the whole chapter."_

The phantom puffed up its cheeks indignantly. "_Like, wow! It's no fun if you don't read the whole thing, y'know!"_ the illusion huffed as Riley continued to ignore it. "_And you still don't wanna talk to me?! You're so mean!"_

"_And you're not real," _the boy said flatly. "_Which means ignoring you is the right thing to do. It makes me look like a normal, sane person."_

"_Yes, because you're the most __**normal **__person in japan. You're the most normal person in the world, because there are probably __**millions **__like you,"_ the phantom's mouth twisted into a smug grin at the hybrid's sad look, only to frown when he once again turned away. "_Y'know, you'll never get a girlfriend if you keep acting like this~"_

"_Get out of my face!" _Riley hissed.

"_Woah! So hostile!"_ the hallucinatory girl darted away from him "_You're being so mean today! I thought we were family."_

"_I don't have a family," _Riley said, half-coldly, half-sadly as he closed his eyes. "_Not anymore."_

"_Yeah, but you could just make a new one, after all...or at least, that's what big brother would say,"_ the phantom tilted its head at the boy's low growl, and smirked. "_Hey, I think I know why you're so uppity! You haven't eaten in a while, right?"_ the illusion's smile grew wider as the hybrid continued to ignore it. "_Guess we're gonna have to fix that, right? Give me a second here…"_

Riley flinched when a foul sound echoed within his ears. He didn't even need the phantom smell of blood to know what the hallucination of his sister was doing. The half-ghoul screwed his eyes shut and clenched his jaw, biting his lip to prevent his mouth from watering as the delightful memory of the taste of flesh danced across his tongue.

"_C'mon! Don't be like that! You did it before, after all,"_ the phantom said. "_Go ahead and eat, baby brother. Y'know ya want to~"_

One of his eyes opened slightly to take a peak, and instantly he wished he could close them again. The hallucination had changed, from a bubbly looking 7-year old girl full of life, to a pale corpse with a lifeless, dead-eyed stare. Held out directly in front of his face was a still-beating heart, blood spilling from the detached arteries and dousing the floor around them in a false vision of red.

Riley swallowed a lump in his throat and closed his eyes, desperately trying to chase away the voices that had once again started to scream within his ears. The half-ghoul clutched the side of his head with one hand, waving his other angrily at the illusion in the hopes that it would leave.

"_Go away,"_ he sobbed. "_Just go away! I don't want to deal with this!"_

"_Hmm? Aw c'mon! You're being so rude!"_ the phantom whined.

"_You're not __**real**__!" _the tall boy hissed through his tears. "_Please, just leave me alone! Can't I just not have this happen?!"_

"_Don't be like that!"_ the hallucination whined. "_You know I'm only playing, right~? This is just like last time!"_ the illusion's arms curled around the boy's neck as a playful giggle escaped from it. "_Can't you just enjoy the precious amount of time we have together? Please baby brother?"_

Riley flinched as the door to the guest room opened, and quickly wiped his tears away as discreetly as he could. Upon seeing Kentetsu's raised eyebrow, the half-ghoul sent him a shaky smile as he stood to his feet.

"All right, I'll just get this done really quick…"

* * *

**Later**

"Kya! This is great!" Minami rubbed her face into one of the shopping bags she held. "Maybe the tunnels won't be so bad after all, if I get to wear _normal _clothes. Just gotta haul all of these babies home."

Riley took a moment away from staring wistfully at the skyscraper-lined airspace overhead to give the girl a deadpan look. "Really? You're hauling them?" the tall boy lifted the monstrous amount of bags hanging off of his arms to demonstrate. "I guess you're hauling them in spirit, maybe?"

"Alright, fine! You have me there," the brunette said tiredly. She turned back towards him with a curious expression. "Hey, so whaddya got in yours anyway?"

The half-ghoul froze slightly as an unsteady smile tugged at his lips. "Oh, uh...nothing! Nothing at all!"

"Doesn't sound like _nothing_," Minami teased. The doe-eyed girl leaned towards the boy with a suspicious look, before a hand shot out towards one of the bags he held. "Lemme just see real quick!"

Riley attempted to dive out of the way, but the multitude of bags weighing him down combined with his wish to not crush anything made escape impossible. All the tall boy could do was pray that the girl didn't find what he had hoped would be the beginnings of his future "rainy-day honey stash". No amount of "my mother taught me this or that" would save him the trouble of explaining it away.

Unfortunately, while the girl grabbed onto something much safer, it was far more _embarrassing_. The hybrid winced as Minami pulled out a large pack of yarn, much to her own shock. The doe-eyed girl prodded further into the bag, finding several knitting and crocheting supplies.

"Uh…what?" the ghoulette tilted her head in confusion. "No, seriously...what?"

"I like to knit stuff..y'know, like...sweaters, and blankets," Riley shrunk in place at the blank expressions of the other two. "My dad taught me, and I've been practicing since I was 3. Don't judge me!"

Minami chewed on her lip for several seconds, before she burst out laughing. "Oh hell, I'm sorry! It's just...you're…" the ghoulette motioned to the tall boy, and made some semblance of speak in between giggles. After several seconds, she was finally able to compose herself, disregarding a few snorts and muted guffaws. "I just got this image in my head...of you, this big kid, who can be like, sorta a scary foreigner-"

"S-Scary?" the tall boy asked indignantly.

"And you're hunched over, knitting a cute little sweater," the doe-eyed girl let out another laugh. "N-Not even a good looking one either, I'm actually imagining one of those terrible christmas sweaters! I just can't get rid of that image."

The hybrid's face fell at this. "My sweaters aren't _that _ugly…"

"Wait, your dad was the one who taught you?"

"Y-Yeah, but it wasn't like my mom didn't-"

"And he's the one you inherited the big tall stuff from?"

"Y-Yes," Riley said nervously.

"And now I'm imagining an older version of you," Minami giggled. "Like...okay, I know I sound harsh, but it's funny because it's kinda...cute, yeah."

'You think literal giants of men knitting sweaters is cute?' Kentetsu wrote quickly.

"It's hilariously cute," the doe-eyed girl said. "Now come on, let's get going. You guys said you wanted to go sightseeing, right?"

"Y-Yeah, I guess you're-"

"Excuse me!"

Riley blinked as a pair of older girls bolted towards him from further down the street. The half-ghoul would have thought they were calling out to somebody else, if it weren't for the fact that they were making a beeline straight for him.

Two schoolgirls, average in height but with _very _curvaceous figures, stood in front of the boy beaming. Both had black hair, the one on the left stared up at him with her starry grey eyes while the one on the right shyly looked up with dark eyes. Having seen Minami's uniform from days before when they met her principal, the half-ghoul deduced from the differences in attire that they were from a different school.

"Uh, h-hi, how can I help you?" Riley said, fighting down a blush.

"Uh, I know you seem kinda busy, Foreigner-san, but-"

"Wait, is she your girlfriend?" the brunette cut her friend off, pointing to Minami, much to the ghoulette's protest.

"N-No, that's not right! She's just a friend," the half-ghoul held his hands up in a surrendering gesture. "We're just out shopping together, I'm just the pack mule I think."

"Oh, that's great!" the dark-haired girl pulled a phone from her pocket and gave the boy a kind smile. "Would you mind taking a photo with us?"

"...Uh...a photo?"

"Yeah, I can just take it with my phone here."

"Phones take pictures now?" Riley wheezed out.

A bead of sweat fell down the side of Minami's head as she stared at him. "How long has he been down _there_?" the doe-eyed girl frowned when she noticed Kentetsu's confused expression. "And you probably have no idea what a phone is…"

The half-ghoul handed the bags in his arms to the quiet boy before allowing the two schoolgirls to drag him a ways off. A quick hug, a bright smile, a dual peace-sign from the girls, and a flash all happened in just a few quick seconds. Riley, unsure of what to do, had only given a slightly shaky smile towards what he thought was the camera.

"W-Wow! We got a picture with a cute foreigner," the brunette said happily.

"We should share this-Ah!" the dark-haired girl bowed slightly before switching to heavily accented english. "_San-kyu misutā!"_

"D-Don't mention it," the tall boy said shyly as the two ran off.

"He seemed pretty shy, y'know!"

"Yeah, but he was really handsome. Did you see his eyes? And he was so tall! Foreigners really are dreamy!"

Riley chewed the inside of the cheek as he tried his best to keep up a friendly smile towards the departing girls. Once he felt they were far enough, his happy smile fell slightly as his expression sank into blankness.

"Well that was nice!" Minami said cheerfully. "So a couple of girls wanted a picture with you cause you're a foreigner. Guess they figured you were a high schooler cause of that and how tall you...were…" the doe-eyed girl noticed his detached look, and cocked an eyebrow. "Is something wrong?"

"It's...it's nothing important," he brushed a few strands of his silver hair away from his eyes before shaking his head. He motioned to Kentetsu, and took the absurd amount of bags out of his hands, before turning back to the ghoulette. "You said you were meeting friends, right?"

"Yeah, I messaged them about it," the girl pulled out her small phone and clicked a few buttons before bringing up her texts. "They said Yoyogi park would work out, since it's not too far away."

"You can just...send words now?" Riley asked in shock.

"Uh, yeah. Phones probably changed a lot since you've been up here," Minami flinched back as the quiet boy stared at her cellphone like some sort tool of black magic. "Seriously, no technology down there?"

"I doubt you'd get a signal there in the first place," the tall boy deadpanned.

"Yet another thing I'm gonna hate about it," the ghoulette said curtly. She quickly pocketed her phone before motioning the two boys along. "Come on! I wanna say bye real quick, and I have stuff to pack later."

"Ah, of course! Lead the way."

**Yoyogi Park, several minutes later**

"Hey, my friends said they were gonna take a while," Minami told the two boys. "So I guess that leaves us time to talk."

Riley all but crashed onto a nearby bench, half-heartedly eyeing the area around them in case somebody might listen in on whatever conversation they had. All the boy could think about was soothing the strange, sudden aches in his legs, or the numbing pain that spread through his body.

"I can't promise much, I'm still trying to get language down," the half-ghoul said shakily.

"You're actually better than I expected-from a foreigner, that is," the ghoulette held her hands up defensively as the other two stared at her. "N-Not that I have anything against foreigners! The few that I've met aside from you spoke really broken japanese," she shrunk in on herself slightly and turned away. "On the other hand, my english is pretty shit."

"It can't be _that _bad-"

"_This is a sea urchin,"_ Minami said in heavily accented english. At the expressions of the two, the doe-eyed girl let out a short giggle. "I know, right? My school's english course had a computer program for us to 'make the course easier and more streamline', and that was the first english sentence I had to practice for class."

'Why would you need to learn _that_?' the quiet boy wrote furiously. 'That's the most useless sentence I've heard. You'd never need it!'

"I know, but my teachers were always going 'oh, Uruka-chan, this is the most cutting edge technology and all that'. It was a total joke," the brunette looked at the tall boy with a curious expression. "So what did you first learn...in japanese, that is."

"It was 'this is a pen'," Riley said boredly. "Which, since I've never been in a situation that I'd need it, has never been used."

"Yeah, I'd imagine it'd never come up," Minami bounced on the balls of her feet with a nervous expression. "I actually wanted to ask you guys a few things...about the 24th," the ghoulette's eyes darted around as she twiddled her fingers. "Since I'm apparently supposed to live there from now on."

The tall boy shrunk back slightly at this. "W-Well, I think we already told you the basics. It's not all some crazy warzone or anything-"

"How did you two end up there?"

The silence from the two boys was unnerving, even with the background noise from the rest of the park. Upon seeing their blank expressions, Minami shrunk back with a wilted look as she tried to muster up her voice.

"I just...you two don't even seem like you belong there. So I have to know," the brunette bit her lip and screwed her eyes shut. "Just what reason would two kids like you have for living there?"

After nearly a minute of ensuing silence, Kentetsu broke it with a low, voiceless sigh. He laid his notebook down and hesitantly grabbed at the collar of his turtleneck. Despite everything sounding so far away in that moment, the preteen felt the other two gasping.

A cluster of misshapen scars lined the area around his throat. Some, while large, were jagged and disorderly, clearly made haphazardly. Others were visibly smaller, but more precise and purposeful in their creation.

'I was a toddler,' he wrote. 'So I can't even remember the Dove who did it, or how I got away,' the quiet boy shook his head weakly as he struggled to continue. 'I didn't even know that the ghouls that picked me up from the street weren't my real family until after they told me themselves.'

"F-Family?" the ghoulette's eyes widened. "You don't mean-"

'Tetsuo couldn't even tell me we weren't brothers by blood without looking at me,' Kentetsu snorted quietly. 'I still call him that, even though we're not blood. He and his parents practically raised me most of my life, up until a while ago. He's the only _real _family I know.'

"Up until a little while ago?" Minami frowned. "Your parents, are they-" the brunette flinched at the quiet boy's expression. "I-I'm sorry, I didn't mean to bring it up."

'It's fine,' the preteen wrote. A nearly quiet wheeze escaped his mouth as he flexed his fingers to rid his hand of an aching feeling. 'I _could _talk y'know...it's just, if I try,' he pointed to the scar on his throat. 'They just haven't healed enough for me to manage it, even after nearly a decade. If I do try, I'll be right back to square one...and it won't look too pretty either.'

"That's...that's awful," the girl swallowed a lump in her throat as the boy pulled his collar up. "So, you just stay down there because it's-"

'It's all I know,' the quiet boy wrote half-heartedly. 'Up here, it's...nice, but I don't think I could handle it. Down _there_, we don't need to hide, so suddenly having to worry about it might be hard.'

"I think I understand," Minami said sadly. "I...I constantly have anxiety over that. I always worry that my friends will find out, that they'll tell the Doves...I have trust issues because of it."

Kentetsu let out a low hum at this and nodded, before leaning back against the bench tiredly. The doe-eyed girl leaned forward with a sympathetic expression, then turned to the tall boy with a muted expression. He flinched at this, and twiddled his fingers nervously.

"For me, it's more complicated, and I really don't...I don't like remembering it too much," Riley said weakly. "I'll try to explain it as best I can, since I don't know what words I should use."

"It's okay, take...well, if my friends show up, we can drop the subject," Minami said shakily.

"I'll try…" the half-ghoul took a deep breath before clasping his hands. "When my family was in America, humans chased us out of our home. It was...well, a bit personal."

He flinched as the image of a relative-a _human_ relative-flashed forward from deep within his memories. His uncle had been surprised to see his single red eye, but it didn't make him swing his quinque and slower.

"My dad, he stayed back while we ran...he's probably dead now, or locked up," Riley let out a sharp exhale of air and chewed the inside of his cheek. "After that, mom just pulled us onto a boat, and we got smuggled all the way over here."

"Why _Japan_ though?"

The half-ghoul gave the girl a sheepish smile as his shoulders sagged. "My mom was a huge japanophile, and she didn't want to live out in the desert."

Minami sweatdropped at this. "For real? I can't believe it, that just sounds so nerdy…"

"Y-Yeah, there were a few embarrassing things about it," Riley twiddled his fingers as he fought down the image of his mother in her yukata. "We started living in the 11th, and things were alright...at least until…"

"Until what?"

The tall boy all but choked on the dryness in his throat as he tried to speak clearly. "When I was five...we were just out for ice cream, and when we came back home," his fists clenched as he stared blankly into the ground. "I couldn't understand them, but they sounded crazy even then. I...I can't say what they did, I don't like thinking about it. But at the end of it all, I never saw my family again."

A shudder ran through him as he remembered that night. The crazed woman dressed like a clown twisting her head a full 360 degrees while cackling like a witch. The soft spoken man dressed as a priest, who had somehow managed to take a bite out of his sister's shoulder without even removing his mask. Their voices continued to haunt the dark edges of his mind and stalk through his nightmares.

"If other ghouls attacked you, why the 24th?" Minami asked. "It should be the opposite of what you'd want to avoid-"

"The first person who even reached out to me _was _another ghoul," Riley said firmly. "You're not wrong. If I were just living in the 24th, I'd never have trusted anybody, human or ghoul. I'd be the...I don't know the word," the half-ghoul rubbed the side of his head. "But basically, I'd just be like every other ghoul down there, and I wouldn't even be here now. So the people who helped me, who took me in, they have my undivided trust no matter what."

Kentetsu blinked at this, then smiled softly as a small blush spread across his face. The quiet boy lifted his notepad offhandedly and began writing, idly staring at the doe-eyed girl from the corner of his eye.

"All of that...when you said 'anything that turns hair what', you really meant it, huh?" Minami chewed the inside of her cheek as the tall boy looked away. "Hey, you guys mind scooting over a bit? I kinda wanna take a seat."

"Oh, right! Sorry about that," Riley said sheepishly as he moved to the side of the bench a bit. "I was so busy resting my legs, I didn't think-"

"Relax, you're fine," the brunette leaned forward with a curious expression. "I really thought they'd be here right now. I wonder what's-"

"Uruka!"

The three blinked as a loud voice called out from further away. Down the path, three girls in school uniforms were walking towards them. Further in front of them was another who was practically charging towards them at breakneck speed.

The closest was a girl with short, light blue hair, teal colored eyes, and a slim figure. The bluenette increased her pace to almost comical levels as she drew closer to the three ghouls, her cheerful smile increasing in size.

Trailing behind her were two girls with much more curvaceous figures, a tired looking girl with bright green eyes hidden behind glasses and red hair done up in a ponytail, and a girl with long dark hair who had her hands folded beneath her chest and a haughty expression spread across her face. A third girl practically hid behind them, though the tall boy could easily see that behind her wide-brimmed glasses were a pair of calculating brown eyes that all but pinned him down with a strange, ominous feeling.

"Uruka!" the girl cried out again as she all but crashed into the brunette. The blue-haired girl whined as she nuzzled her face into her friend's larger chest, ignorant of the doe-eyed girl's dark blush. "Uruka! I missed you!"

"H-Hey, Umiwa," Minami said weakly. "Do you think you could pull yourself away from my boobs? It's kinda embarrassing…"

"We heard you were leaving, and then I got really sad, cause I didn't want you to leave," the bluenette looked up at the girl as tears formed in her eyes. "Please stay! Please, please, please, please-"

"Umiwa! Give it a rest!" the redhead growled as she pulled her energetic friend away from Minami. She briefly regarded the two boys for a second before turning to the doe-eyed girl with a muted expression. "Yo! So what's going on here anyway?"

"Hey, Itoshi. I'm just...well, they're friends of a friend," the brunette straightened herself before motioning to the multiple shopping bags at their side. "We were out shopping. Mostly it's just for clothes and stuff."

"Wow, you're really going through with it," Itoshi said blankly. "Damn, I didn't think you'd get this scared...also, what's with the gaijin?"

"I-Itoshi!" Minami jumped to her feet in shock. "What the hell?"

"What? I was just asking," the redhead narrowed her eyes at the tall boy suspiciously, before a smile tugged at the corners of her lips. "Oh! So _this _is your boyfriend, huh?"

The brunette's barking laugh said it all. "Ha! N-No, not a chance. He's nice and all, but there's like dozens of reasons," Minami noticed the dark-haired girl's eye light up. "Like, he's 11 for starters"

"Nuh-uh? For real?" Itoshi tilted her head towards the boy with a suspicious look. "How are you so tall then?"

"I...uh…"

"_You drink a lot of milk,"_ the phantom offered.

"I drink a lot of milk," Riley said flatly.

"Yeah, that's the 'american response' for ya," the redhead turned back to the dark-haired girl with a frown. "That means down, girl! Otherwise we'll start busting your ass for being a shotacon too."

"I...h-he shouldn't count!"

"Shush, you! This is why you shouldn't only go for foreigners," the redhead said with a snort as she waved the girl down.

The doe-eyed girl sweatdropped at the antics before motioning to the two boys. "So anyway...this is Riley," the half-ghoul waved nervously in response. "And this is Kentetsu."

'Hello. I cannot speak, so I will write instead,' the mute preteen wrote. 'It's nice to meet you three.'

"Nice to meet you too kid. I'm Itoshi-"

"A total punk," Minami coughed.

"And the gaijin-hunter here is named Suzu-"

"You act like that's my _only _defining trait!" the dark-haired girl whined petulantly. "And I prefer the term 'connoisseur'! The word 'hunt' implies the possibility of failure."

"_So it's a step up then? Instead of treating us like a wild animal to be toyed with, she's treating us like a rare dish,"_ the illusion made a clicking noise as it folded its arms. "_She's giving the same vibes as Gypsy, only less so. Better watch your butt around her...literally. There's no telling what that pedo will do if she sees an opening-"_

"And I'm Umiwa! It's nice to meet you two!" the bluenette flashed into existence in front of Minami, a smile on her face and two fingers held up in a peace sign. "I'm the genki-girl of the group, I even run with toast in my mouth sometimes but then there was this one time where I almost caused a car crash from it and the cops made me sit on a bench and had a stern talking to me and I couldn't respond because I still had the toast in my mouth and-"

"Umiwa! Breath!" the brunette cried out.

The blue-haired girl stopped short and, just as her friend said, took a deep breath. "And then I was late for class and the teacher-"

"Blue girl, I think they get it!" the redhead growled.

"Eh! Sorry, sorry! I just sometimes get off track like that," Umiwa said sheepishly. "So how do you guys know Uruka?"

'Her boyfriend is our foster brother,' the quiet boy wrote, shooting the girl in question a short glance as an indigent huff escaped her lips. Kentetsu motioned to the shopping bags around them with a smirk. 'We came to help her move, but somehow we're now her pack mules.'

"Oof! Well, at least that'll help you get used to the girlfriend experience, right?" Umiwa chuckled at the tall boy's blush. "I'm sure you two will do great!"

"Oh, uhh...thanks, I guess," the hybrid said sheepishly, leaning back slightly when the bluenette approached his personal space. "Uh, c-can I help you?"

"What's with the eyepatch?"

"...P-Pinkeye," he said with a shrug. "So I wouldn't get too close."

"Eep!"

"So, your foster brother, huh? Wouldn't happen to be a certain 'childhood friend' we saw a while back?" the redhead leaned towards Minami with a wry grin. "Would it?"

The doe-eyed girl bit her lip and refused to meet her friend's gaze. "M-Maybe?! Shut up!"

"Ohoho? So you're moving in with a boy? How saucy," Suzu purred. "So, you're moving somewhere else? Where to?"

"The 20th...maybe. Either that, or I'll leave Tokyo entirely," the ghoulette mumbled. "I'll just get into a cram school right towards the end of the year, if you're asking about that."

"Please don't leave!" the bluenette whined as she threw her arms around her friend. "I want us to graduate together, and then study at the same uni, and then be at each other's weddings and have our kids be like siblings, and-"

"Umiwa! Relax!" the brunette sighed as she gently removed herself from the smaller girl's grip. "Listen, I...I'm not saying goodbye permanently, I promise. We'll get to see each other again."

"_Bah! She's, like, totally lying!"_

Riley hated that the phantom could be right sometimes. He could tell just by the way the ghoulette's voice shook that she wasn't being truthful, and he was sure he wasn't the only one. Kenta sagged a bit as he heard it, and the red-haired schoolgirl's already lopsided smile seemed to falter just a bit.

Umiwa's smile only grew larger as she once again pulled her friend into a bear hug. "Kya! Uruka, I'm so happy!"

"But you're still leaving 'cause you're scared of the ghoul attacks?" at Minami's nod, Itoshi clicked her teeth boredly. "I don't see why you're worried. The only really dangerous one is going after criminals and shit."

'How the hell did she know _that_?!' the ghoulette thought. After a few seconds of deliberation, she gave her friend a deadpan expression. "I stole a candy bar from a corner store a week ago…"

"Shit, really? Wow, you're worse than the yakuza," the redhead snorted. "Yeah, you definitely deserve to get eaten now. I just think it's a problem of whether you taste good enough."

"I'll have you know that I'd be delicious!" Minami protested. "I'd be the most delectable dish on the plate!"

"Yeah, sure, let's go with that," Itoshi shook her head and pulled the doe-eyed girl into an earnest hug. "I really am gonna miss you, y'know that?"

"I...I know. I promise, this won't be the last time we talk."

The redhead let out a low chuckle at this. "You really are a bad liar, you know."

"I am...I'm sorry…" the doe-eyed girl shook her head. "We have today at least, right?"

"Or however long you have before heading off...plus," Suzu sent a sneer towards the school girl hiding further away from the group. "We'll have to deal with our fourth wheel."

The ghoulette blinked owlishly when she realized she had forgotten about the fourth girl. Upon spotting her standing further away, her eyes narrowed in suspicion. The doe-eyed girl pulled away from her friend's hug and immediately put her guard up.

"Inui Fuka?"

"So you remember me?" the bespectacled girl hummed. "It's good to know you consider me a frien-"

"I don't actually," Minami said flatly. "You and I only talked once, and it was after you stalked me, invaded my personal space and business, and refused to go away. So it's less that we're 'close' and more of the impression you left on me," she clicked her teeth while eyeing the redhead in confusion. "Can I ask why?"

"Basically what you said. Stalked us, followed us, refused to leave...used a dead-fish stare to cow us into submission," Itoshi glanced to the shivering bluenette, then to the dark-haired girl with a sigh. "And when that didn't work on a certain individual, she claimed that there'd be a cute foreigner there."

"It was a lie," Suzu said lowly.

"I said there'd be one," Fuka protested lightly.

"You didn't say he'd be jailbait," the dark-haired girl hissed.

"That would be your fault for getting your hopes up," the bespectacled girl chuckled. She turned to Minami with a curious expression, and leaned forward. "So, I was actually hoping I could talk to you-"

"No," the doe-eyed girl said flatly. "Whatever you're snooping around for, I don't want any part of it. So no, no to whatever you want, Fuka."

"Damn!" the reporter's face fell at this. "Not even _one _small interview? I'm just trying to gather information, after all."

"I'd rather spend time with my friends," Minami said curtly. "So I'm not really up to play a game of...Riley, what's it called it America?"

"T-Twenty Questions," the tall boy said nervously.

"Yeah, that!" the ghoulette huffed. "Listen, it's not _personal_, it's just that I know what you're probably going to ask, and I'd rather not deal with it today."

Fuka hummed thoughtfully at this, and tilted her head. "I suppose that's fair...but I still feel like I have to get _something_," the bespectacled girl shrugged as she eyed the two boys. "I mean, I came all this way, I'd rather it not be for nothing."

Before Minami could protest, Kentetsu tapped his notepad urgently. The doe-eyed girl gave him a curious look, then sagged when she saw him writing.

'We'll be fine. Go.'

The brunette gave him a short nod, and turned back to the reporter. "Like I said, I'm not here to get interviewed."

"That's fine by me," Fuka purred. "If you change your mind, you'll be able to find me here."

"...Are you gonna just stand there endlessly?" Itoshi leaned forward curiously. "Or what? I mean, it's sorta inefficient-"

"I'll sit at a bench," the bespectacled girl said flatly.

The redhead clicked her teeth as she grabbed the ghoulette's arm. "Come on! There's a tennis court nearby. Today's the day you finally lose."

"Excuse you?!"

Riley barely registered the two girls arguing as they left, instead eying the reporter from the corner of his eye and making sure she never left his sight. The moment she was sure Minami was out of earshot, she turned to them with a cat-like grin tugging at the corners of her lips. For the preteen, it almost seemed like somebody else was in her place once her expression changed.

"_Yeah, that girl is definitely giving off serious Gypsy vibes,"_ the phantom said lowly. "_Be careful. We don't want anything to do with her."_

'What gave it away?'

"_The fucking creepy ass head tilt was the same."_

Riley froze at this, and turned to look at the human. The position of her head, the way she tilted it to the side, even the way she was smiling. It was Gypsy, right down to the twitching of her lips as she stared down her prey.

The half-ghoul instantly shrunk in place at the look that haunted his nightmares.

"Say, the two of you wouldn't mind if I asked you a few things, right?"

"_Kay, like, repeat after me, but really fast,"_ the phantom puffed it's cheeks up and leaned forward. "_Owa, Tagu, Siam!"_

The tall boy didn't even think to entertain the illusion's request. Instead, he opted to go with a far more intricate plan that couldn't possibly fail.

"Sorry, no speak Japanese good," Riley said in extremely broken japanese.

"_Yeah, that ain't gonna work on me kid,"_ the reporter said in near-perfect english. "English is my second language, and I heard you speaking to Uruka. So I know that you can speak well enough to hold a conversation, regardless of minor mistakes."

"I..._I could have easily been coached,"_ the tall boy protested in english.

Fuka leaned forward with a smug grin. "For the average person, they could spread out learning a new language over a few years, or simply cram it into a single year," she adjusted her glasses and cocked her head to the side. "While both leave the speaker with the ability to speak their chosen language fluently enough to hold a conversation, the former would leave little room for obvious mistakes in grammar unless one was truly searching for it. Based on that, I can assume that you're trying to rush your way through it."

Riley stared at her, mouth slightly agape, and twiddled his fingers. "I don't sound that bad, do I?"

"You're...passable," the bespectacled girl shrugged. "You can at least hold a proper conversation, but you clearly have an accent."

A bead of sweat dropped down the side of the tall boy's head. "Y-Yeah, I guess I'm still learning…"

'Riley! Don't let her get into your head!' Kentetsu quickly wrote.

"Hey! I'll have you know that my manipulative tactics are far more complex than just 'oh you speak bad'. They're far more intelligent," Fuka leaned forward with a suspicious glare. "You wrote down that you can't speak, right? It seems more like you're choosing to remain silent."

The quiet boy pulled down his collar slightly to reveal his scar. 'I don't know, why don't you tell me,' he cocked his head to the side and snarled at her, then wrote furiously. 'Bitch!'

"Oh, okay that was...Ugh, you said Uruka's boyfriend was your foster brother, right?" the reporter asked the tall boy. At his hesitant nod, she stepped forward. "So where are your parents?"

"Dead," Riley said coldly.

Fuka wilted at this, and took a few steps back. "I meant your foster par-ugh! Okay, I have no idea how to talk to you two."

'Then don't,' Kentetsu clicked his teeth and snorted. 'We don't have anything to say to you either, so respect our boundaries.'

"Can I just ask some basic questions?"

'No.'

"How old are you?"

'None of your business.'

"Tall one! When is your birthday?"

"I have a name," Riley grumbled. "Also, the 17th of February."

"What year?"

"Every year," the hybrid said firmly.

"...This is gonna be like talking to a brick wall, huh?"

"Inui-san, right? I don't think you realize just how dense _I _can be," the tall boy said smugly.

The bespectacled girl tilted her head in confusion at this. "Yeah, you're right, I have no idea."

'2 months ago, a girl asked him if his bed had room for 2,' Kentetsu bit his own lip as a smile stretched across his face. 'His response was that his sleeping bag only had enough room himself.'

Fuka's jaw dropped to the floor as the foreigner shrunk in place. "Shit! Well, there goes plan B…"

* * *

**Late afternoon**

"And you're sure you didn't tell her _anything_?"

'We didn't. She stopped trying to work us over after Riley went on about the time he had a successful snipe hunt,' Kentetsu wrote.

Minami eyed the hallway in the apartment complex shakily, then sighed. "Alright, well I doubt she followed us...also, a Snipe hunt?" she cocked an eyebrow at the tall boy as he sagged a bit. "How could you have a _successful_ snipe hunt?"

"I was five, and my older brother told me to look for a fat, furry imp thing with three arms and one eye-and no, the irony isn't lost on me, Kenta," he glanced at the quiet boy from the corner of his eye with a bemused expression. "It turns out it's actually a bird...and that maybe I should second guess trusting my older brother."

"And suddenly I'm glad I was raised as an only child...well, mostly," the doe-eyed girl craned her neck to look back at the two, narrowing her eyes in suspicion. "You lose any bags? I swear-"

'We have everything. Relax.'

"How are you able to write with your mouth like that?"

'Practice,' Kentetsu wrote, albeit his words seemed nearly like chicken scratch. 'I've trained to write with all of my maneuverable extremities since I was six.'

"Maneuver-you mean your feet too?" Minami's eyes bugged out when the boy nodded. "Ugh, I didn't need to know that…We're here!" the ghoulette fumbled around her pockets for her keys with a sigh. "Hey, I'm sorry about Suzu, by the way."

Riley tilted his head as a frown tugged at his lips. "It's not really a problem-"

"I don't see it that way-aha! Got it," the doe-eyed girl triumphantly held her key up for the two to see. "Right, anyway-I just took issue with what she said."

"I doubt I'll even have a phone to 'call her in 7 years' by that time," the tall boy said tiredly. "I'm used to it by now, so it's not that much of a problem."

"Girls ogling you in public isn't a problem?" she asked incredulously as she opened the door.

"Just as long as they _only_ look," the hybrid said, motioning for Kentetsu to go in first, then ducking his head beneath the doorframe as he followed them in. "Just because I'm attracted to girls doesn't mean I'm interested in them right now...especially if they're only interested in one part of me...is there a better wording for that?"

'Aspect?' the quiet boy wrote as he set the bags down on a nearby coffee table. 'Aspect would be the word.'

"Yeah, that! Like those girls from earlier, with the picture phone-I still can't get over that by the way," Riley shook his head clear as he set the absurd amount of bags in his arms down. "They were polite, they were cute, but at the end of the day they only wanted a picture with a 'cute foreigner'."

"I'd imagine that's going to be a problem for as long as you're here then," Minami mused. "I'm gonna sort my new things. You guys alright with handling what you bought?"

"Yeah, I'm alright with it," the half-ghoul said, having already discreetly pulled the bag with his jars of honey away from the rest. "You sure you don't need help?"

"No, I'm good. It's just some clothes, and some books," the ghoulette noticed their confused expressions, and sighed. "I don't wanna wear some spooky robe...I wore one once, and it was itchy."

"And the books?"

"I'm still supposed to go to a cram school. Gotta study," she pulled a thick textbook from one of her bags and frowned. "I dunno if I'll have to get rid of my old ones or not. I forgot if I was just gonna skip all the way to preparing for uni entrance exams or not."

The two boys watched as she offhandedly threw an older textbook onto the table, continuing along as she packed away the newer textbooks and piled up the older ones. Riley, having already separated his bags from the others, flinched when a book landed in front of him with its opened pages facing the floor. Minami craned her neck to look back, and cringed when she saw the book fall at the silver-haired boy's feet.

"Shit! Could you pick that up for me real quick?"

"Oh, sure!" the half-ghoul casually reached out and grabbed the book by it's gutter and spine, eyeing the pages as he lifted it. The moment he spotted the word "hybrid" near the top of the page, he froze up and stared at the book in confusion. 'What? This is about...I wonder…' Riley eyed the other two ghouls in the room to make sure they were too busy to pay attention to him, then discreetly held the book at level to his knees, squinting to read. 'So it is about hybrids. Maybe-'

"_Oooh! I wonder what's in here?"_

'_Can you stop that?!'_ the tall boy screamed in his own head. '_You pop up at the worst of times!'_

"_What?! I just wanna read!"_ the phantom whined. Childlike hands trailed over the words and diagrams, and the illusion's voice lit up the air with non-existent laughter. "_Oof! Look at that...so big brother was probably lying. Seriously, if __**that **__was always the case, he was only trying to screw with you."_

'_There could...still be a chance…'_ Riley thought desperately.

"_Doubtful!~"_ the hallucination sing-songed, causing the boy to sag in his seat. "_Welp, there goes that life goal. Not much of one anyway...just look at what happened to mom and dad-"_

'_Go away,'_ the boy pleaded, gritting his teeth as more voices hissed and shrieked into his ears. '_Just leave! Please!'_

"_I'm not heading out anytime soon, baby brother~"_ the illusion let out a faux, raspy laugh. It playfully poked the boy in the chest, and smirked. "_I'll...be...right...here...hehe~!"_

Riley winced as the phantom seemed to escape his sight as a wisp of white fog that clouded around the corners of his vision. A whisper in the back of his head told him that it wasn't normal for it to happen like that. He wisely ignored it, opting to chew on the inside of his cheek as he tried to read everything else on the page in hopes of satisfying his curiosity.

"Hey! Are you actually reading that?"

The hybrid flinched back at the girl's raised voice, and shrank in place. "M-Maybe? It opened on a page when it fell, and when I looked, I got curious."

"Is that so?" Minami let out a grunt as she dropped a stack of books alongside the rest of her obsolete textbooks. "Ugh, I'll sort these out later, probably donate them...anyway, what caught your eye in there?"

"N-Nothing really important! It was just a picture of an animal!" the tall boy deflected.

"Bullshit! That's a highschool biology textbook, I know it was a naked woman," the ghoulette teased.

'Wouldn't that be anatomy?' the quiet boy wrote.

"It'd be either or," she said smugly. With a quick motion, she grabbed the book from the half-breed before he could even react, a smirk stretching across her face. "Alright, let's see what you're into-oh, it's a picture of a mule…" Minami bit her lip, her expression a full cringe. "So, I guess you were, uh...telling the truth...h-hybrids, huh?"

"Y-Yeah, I saw the section on it, and I got kinda curious. I guess I was just wondering-"

"I didn't think you'd believe the rumours, to be honest," the doe-eyed girl threw the book over her shoulder while giving the boy a deadpan expression. "I mean, I know americans believe in some crazy shit, but I thought you were smarter than that."

Riley's mouth formed into a flat line, his eyes boring into her with a blank stare. "Y-Yeah, the rumours...the ones we totally know about and hear all the time."

"Yeah, they must sound pretty crazy, huh? I mean, a One-Eyed Ghoul in the 24th Ward? Get real!" Minami let out a barking laugh. "I-I get it, people wanna be optimistic and believe that humans and ghouls can coexist, but come on! A half-ghoul? That's just not possible!"

"Yeah, totally. I agree one hundred percent," the _half-ghoul_ said cheerfully. "Sounds like the craziest thing I've ever heard, and I've had a _successful_ snipe hunt."

"Yeah, and you probably believe in Sasquatch and stuff," the girl giggled, oblivious to the tall boy's flat expression. "So you saying that it's crazy is all I'd need."

'Where'd you hear the rumours?' Kentetsu wrote.

"Eh, Mizuho said she heard it from a friend, who heard it from a friend, who somehow got it from these guys and black coats," the ghoulette shrugged. "Like I said, it's a crazy rumour, and Mizuho said she heard the same thing almost 10 years ago. So I don't think there's much substance to it."

'And you don't think it's possible?' the quiet boy prodded.

"I mean, no, not really. A human can't get a ghoul pregnant, and vice versa. We're two different species, it just wouldn't work out."

'We're sister species,' Kentetsu protested, furiously writing as fast as he could. 'That means we're closer to humans than Neanderthals or...what are the other ones? Denisones?'

"Denisovans! Also, so what? Doesn't mean we can interbreed with them," the ghoulette clicked her teeth. "Just because we're a sister species, doesn't mean it's possible. There's no evidence that Neanderthals and Denisovans interbred with modern humans, so it's more than likely that ghouls can't."

'There have been discoveries of archaic human remains that, while fitting the description of their respective species, also display traits akin to those of modern humans-'

"How do you even know about all of this?!"

'I read books,' the quiet boy huffed as a smug grin tugged at his lips. 'It's more than likely that many humans today share a small amount of Neanderthal ancestry due to hybridization.*'

"Well, it's not possible for ghouls to have that! We're not able to do it," Minami said firmly.

"M-Maybe we are?" Riley said weakly, flinching when the two of them turned to him. "I don't really understand the big words around it, but maybe it's like wolves and dogs? When they mix, they don't really create a new species because they're just that close."

"I'd imagine it'd be more like lions and tigers," the girl said flatly. "You create a new thing that doesn't fit around either, and it can't even reproduce itself. And that's only _if_ they can mix, which is just not possible no matter how many people wish it weren't."

The tall boy deflated at this and looked down dejectedly, idly noticing Kentetsu furiously writing on his notepad. Before the quiet preteen could present his counter-argument, the girl had already begun to walk off with her new clothes in hand.

"I'm gonna put these away. Morio isn't gonna be back for a while, so I'm taking a shower too," she turned back to them with a tired expression. "Sorry for being so curt, but I have a lot on my mind, and I'd rather not get into a long argument with a mute 12-year old about gene flow."

Kentetsu held a finger up to protest, only for his hand to drop to his lap. He gave the girl an apologetic nod, letting out a tired huff as she hid herself in her room. It was after several seconds of silence that he tapped the tall boy on the shoulder.

'Why didn't you tell her?'

"She thinks I have a scar on my eye, and that I deflect with an excuse," Riley deflected.

'You could have proved her wrong though, right?'

"I feel like you took the disagreement personally...also," the half-ghoul pulled off his eyepatch to reveal his active kakugan, and sent Kentetsu a friendly wave as a sickeningly sweet smile stretched across his face. "'Hi Uruka-san, you know that thing you think isn't real? He kinda takes special insult to being compared to a Sasquatch'," Riley snorted at the quiet boy's deadpan expression. "Yeah, I'm pretty sure her mind would turn off at the sight of that."

'I'm more annoyed that Sasquatches are where you draw the line,' the mute preteen wrote, cocking an eyebrow at the tall boy as a sardonic grin tugged at his lips. 'What with you believing in Dragons and all.'

"I don't _believe_ in Dragons...just wanted to be one…" the hybrid rubbed his scalp idly as a grimace spread across his face. "And considering all my past attempts ended with me breaking my skull-I think you get the picture."

Kentetsu shook his head in exasperation and leaned back with a low sigh. After another long few moments of silence, he turned to stare at the girl's door with a concerned look. Another tap on Riley's shoulder, and the half-ghoul was quickly jolted from the maelstrom of his thoughts.

'Should we have confronted her?' the quiet boy wrote. 'About how we followed her the other night? What if she buys into those two creeps?'

"She wouldn't fall for a trap that obvious...s-she wouldn't," the tall boy repeated, more to convince himself than reiterate the point. "Besides, I can hear her shower running-I know that sounds bad, but I still have trouble controlling my hearing like that, so I don't really tune out stuff like white noise."

'And running water counts as white noise to you?'

"Yeah, it usually ends up like that for me. Especially if it goes on long enough," the half-ghoul tilted his head and stared at the girl's door. "She wouldn't fall for it...would she?"

'Riley, she thought that killing criminals was a _good_ idea. Who knows how many Yakuza she popped off 'cause of that,' the quiet preteen bared his teeth in a grimace as he continued to write. 'If she's stupid enought to paint a target across her back for multiple different and dangerous humans, falling for an obvious trap wouldn't be out of the question.'

"_...She is going to fall for the obvious trap,"_ the tall boy said flatly in english.

'That about sums it up.'

"We might be wrong," Riley said quickly. "She didn't lock her door. If we go in, the worst thing that'll happen is she'll scream at us for being perverts and try to kill us."

'Okay, how can you act like that's a _good_ thing?'

"She's still alive?" the tall boy said nervously. "That's the part we need to focus on. Besides, it's not like she grabbed her disguise, put it on, and escaped immediately after she went into her room."

'Yeah...but we've given her more than enough time, haven't we?' Kentetsu wrote, giving the hybrid a flat look.

Riley shakily stood to his feet and practically shambled towards the girl's door, a clammy hand reaching for the knob. He stopped just as his fingers brushed against the metal and he, after swallowing a lump in his throat, rapped the face of the door with his knuckles.

"H-Hey, Minami-san?! You're in there, right?" the tall boy's shoulders sank when he got no response. "Minami?! If you met with two other ghouls in the dead of night, you'd tell all of us, right?"

When the other side of the door remained silent, the shorter boy of the two simply let out a low growl as he grabbed the knob. The door flew open, revealing an empty room and a closet with clothes all but falling out, an open window, and an open bathroom with an empty, running shower.

Kentetsu couldn't even muster the will to write his two cents.

* * *

**Shibuya Ward, Tokyo  
Abandoned/Run-Down Building**

"And you're certain that her story didn't change?"

"From what I got, no, it didn't. Same as she told our principal, and the brats didn't say anything either."

Arima hummed thoughtfully at this. "If that's the case, there might not be any reason to keep investigating that lead," the bluenette cocked his head to the side. "Where are you right now?"

"I'm biking my way over to the spot," Fuka said over the phone. "If I get there, I'll call you back. I'm hoping I can arrive before anybody _shows up_."

The message was more than clear. She would alert them when Lantern finally took the bait through a pager, and if the situation got rough, they'd use the same pager to tell her to call the CCG for backup. Arima doubted it would be necessary until after Lantern was taken care of, but the pager on his hip would be used regardless of the outcome.

The bespectacled teen leaned against the pillar he hid behind, and stared at the cracked hole in the ceiling. One of the two ghouls looming overhead, the blonde one, noticed him, and gave him a small wave. Arima clicked his teeth before leaning back into the shadows.

"I don't like this…" Fura grumbled from his own hiding spot nearby.

"I know," the bluenette said flatly. "Working with them isn't ideal. Not just because of what they are-hell, I'd be on thin ice if anybody found out."

"I meant I don't like _this_," the orange-haired boy hissed. "I...I want to bring Lantern to justice, but...do we _need_ to kill him?"

Arima's lips twitched slightly as he fought down a frown. "We don't _need_ to kill him...but I imagine that if we proceed to capture him," the bespectacled teen motioned to the two ghouls loitering overhead. "They'll take exception to it. So it's a done deal either way."

Fura cradled his bat in his arms desperately, his eyes screwing shut as a pained grimace spread across his face. The bluenette swore he heard the other boy muttering something, but the only two words he could make out properly were 'Ryou' and 'Aki'.

"Fura...I'm sorry," Arima said lowly. "The other day, when you went into that warehouse, I was ready to chew you out for being stupid...then I saw you and…"

"I-I feel like you probably should have," the orange-haired boy chuckled. "I was being a dumbass. You should have smacked me and screamed at me-"

"You already looked like you had gone through enough that day," the bluenette interjected. He turned away with a sigh and adjusted his glasses. "I mean, you were covered in blood after killing a group of...just to drop the pretenses, _people_," Arima winced when he noticed his companion wincing. "Yelling at you wouldn't help, you didn't need that...I didn't even know what to say. That you did the right thing? That killing people doesn't make you a bad person? It was...I felt like I was out of my element."

"I'm guessing you don't deal with people that much?" Fura swallowed nervously as his friend nodded.

"Ghouls are usually easier...not good for conversation, obviously."

The orange-haired boy let out a small chuckle at this. "I-I'd imagine not, yeah...so, you think of them as people?"

"I guess I just never bought into it-the idea that they're just humanoid animals, that is," the bespectacled teen frowned. "I don't like what I do, but...I really don't have anything else. This was never my choice."

Fura gave the bluenette a concerned look. "Have you ever thought of just leaving? I mean, if you don't want this, you-"

"I said it was never my choice," Arima said firmly. "I can't leave. I can't explain why that's the case, but it just is. No matter what the things I _actually_ want to have in life...all of it takes a 'backseat' to this, so to speak."

The orange-haired boy's jaw went slack at this, and without knowing what he was doing, he nearly shuffled over to the other teen to comfort him. He only stopped when the pager beeped loudly, signalling that their target was approaching.

"Oi, Ghouls!" Fura hissed towards the hole in the ceiling. "Look alive, the asshole is coming!"

The taller ghoul, Yamori, let out a low chuckle that reverberated through the room.

"Showtime…"

* * *

Minami wanted to growl at the audacity of using such an obvious place to set up an ambush. Whatever the building she was trekking through had been, it's failure to withstand the test of time was becoming more apparent the further she walked. Worn down stone, shattered windows, rubble, and all sorts of debris was strewn about the area, to the point that some portions were visibly inaccessible through normal means.

Any other day it would have just been a tragic reminder of the bubble popping. As of now, everything about her surroundings was putting her on edge.

The ghoulette finally stopped in a large room that might have passed as an old plaza or lobby. The ceiling was in complete ruins, being nothing but a massive hole in the wall with crumbling ledges held up by worn pillars. A short sniff of the air, and Minami cocked her head to the side as a scowl tugged at her lips beneath her mask.

"You could have picked a better place to do this, y'know?" she snarled to the two ghouls looming over her from behind.

"Fuck you, pumpkin head! This was the best we could do on short notice," Yamori clicked his teeth, and kicked a stone off of the ledge he stood on. "If you had a better idea, we would have _loved _to hear it."

"Whatever!" the ghoulette hissed. "So what?! We're supposed to pull off an ambush, right? What was the game plan?"

"Easy!" the blonde ghoul chuckled. "We were just waiting for the dumbass we were gonna ambush."

Minami's instincts screamed to her senses to _move_, and with a light kick, she propelled herself back just as a monstrously thick, spined tendril speared the ground where she had been. As a barrage of ukaku shards speared her way from above, the girl made a few more jumps back to distance herself from the hole.

"Why am I not surprised?" her voice-changer crackled as the growl in her voice intensified. "Did you honestly think I was stupid enough to fall for this?"

"You came here, didn't you?" Katou giggled.

"Shut it! We all know how this was going to go down!" a cloud of RC Cells bubbled from behind the ghoulette as she prepared to release her kagune. "You hate me, I hate you, and you've both been trying to pop me off "just 'cause". If you thought I was gonna actually play along with your bullshit trap, you've got another thing coming."

"Eh, we figured you wouldn't fall for it," Yamori shrugged as his twin rinkaku twisted behind him. "That's why we were banking on our new partners surprising you."

"What? You think some losers who probably have no idea how to use their kagune can handle me?" Minami clicked her teeth angrily as the two ghouls chuckled. "Well?! Where are your shitty friends, you pricks?!"

"Well, if we judge the trajectory of the moon and the sun…" Yamori tilted his head, a chuckle escaping his lips beneath his bandana-mask. "Arima is _probably _right behind you."

The doe-eyed girl's subsequent lack of reaction was not out of shock, but rather the fact that she was now experiencing an inexorable amount of pain in the left side of her waist. After a few seconds of dragging her palm across the area in dumb shock, she shakily brought her hand up, now faced with the dizzying sight of her own blood dripping from her fingers.

All thanks to the blue-haired school boy who had just snuck up from behind, charged forward with the speed of a wildcat, and slashed deeply into her with two katana quinques. With his back to her, he sheathed a single blade back into his guitar case, and turned to stare at her with an empty gaze.

"Don't even think about escaping," Arima adjusted his glasses, then leveled his sword at her. "Surrender now, and you might make things easier on yourself. I don't plan on making this a fight to the death."

"Speak for yourself!" one of the two ghouls overhead roared.

Minami didn't respond to either of them, instead opting to release her kagune. Her original plan was to slam into Arima, even knowing that he would dodge. She could get him out of the way, and use her bikaku as a pole vault to launch herself away.

Her plan was shot the moment something charged into her, smashing into the side of her head with bone-breaking force. Even with the delirium from her blood loss, she might have seen what came next if she were paying attention. But the result would likely have been the same; she was sent flying back several feet, courtesy of the orange-haired boy wielding a metal bat.

"You stay down!" Fura cried out, leveling his weapon at her. "You get back up, and it'll get worse for you! Understand?!"

The ghoulette stood to her feet shakily, her tail twisting behind her weakly. She crouched slightly, ready to defend herself. Even as the bluenette ran forward, ready to cut her to pieces, one thought echoed through her mind.

'I c-can't die! Not...not without telling _him_…' Minami's kakugan activated, meeting Arima's empty blue eyes with fury. "I won't go down without a fight!"

She let out an enraged growl that distorted into a roar through her voice-changer, and charged towards the bespectacled teen, wrapping her tail around her arm to create a makeshift sword. Sparks flew as the two weapons clashed, and despite her weakened state, the ghoulette was no less ferocious as she shoved the bluenette back a couple of feet. As Arima tried to return the favor, she used her free arm to jab at the boy's shoulder.

Arima pushed himself away from her to dodge, dropping his guitar case and pulling out a second blade from within. The ensuing charge the school boy made resulted in a cascade of sparks as the two clashed yet again. The ghoulette soon found herself occupied with the teen's second blade, alternating between blocking attacks from either two as she tried to maintain a distance.

The bluenette clicked his teeth and darted forward, nearly charging straight through her already weakened defenses. Despite her bikaku tail growing flimsy and ever so sluggish by the second, she held steadfast as her kagune met his twin blades. Minami would not budge, no matter how hard the bespectacled teen pushed.

That was until Fura smacked into her right side with his bat. The ghoulette could _hear_ her own ribs cracking, even past the incessant pounding within her head. The white-hot, searing pain that lanced into her body was mind-crushing, it broke her vision to the point that she could barely see anything past the black spots coalescing across it.

The force of the orange-haired boy's assault has thrown the girl back several feet, and her rough landing ended in her bouncing across the floor three times before sliding to a halt. Even as she stood up shakily, she was able to meet Arima's second strike with her tail by sheer luck, only to have Fura's fist slam into her stomach. Even then, she still didn't back down.

The mistake that finally did put a stop to her was haphazardly spearing her kagune towards the two boys. Arima's response was to hoist one of his quinques into the air, and throw it straight at her tail. The blade stabbed through her kagune like a worm on a hook, and straight into the wall behind her to ensnare her weapon completely. All leaving her open for Fura to once again smash his bat into the side of her head.

Already concussed, bloodied, and broken, Minami couldn't even stand upright. All she could do was watch as the bluenette charged forward, two more blades in each hand. In a split second, he was in front of her-

And then he wasn't, and the pain only got worse. The ghoulette could only cradle the copiously bleeding slash marks across the sides of her torso as the two humans loomed over her prone form. She didn't even register her kagune dissipating, the only reason she knew was the dull ringing sound as Arima's third quinque fell to the ground behind her.

"I'll admit, he made it more difficult than I expected," the bluenette mused.

"Yeah, way to fucking contribute!" Fura called up to the two ghouls overhead.

"We got him to come here, didn't we?" Yamori clicked his teeth as the two teens glared at him. "Whatever! Just kill his ass, and we can move on to more important shit!"

The orange-haired boy hissed lowly, but ignored the tall ghoul, instead opting to stalk over to the pumpkin-masked cretin with a glare that bore into their soul. With a swift movement, he pulled them by the collar to their feet, snarling at them with unbridled rage.

'Fura…' Minami thought weakly. 'I wish things had been different...not just all this,' her eyes glowed with muted fury to match the boy's own. 'But after everything _you've_ done, I can't let you off the hook.'

"Why'd you do it, huh?! Why'd you fucking do it you monster?!" Fura roared. "What gave _you_ the fucking right to attack them?! You murdered my best friend, you blinded Aki! Give me one good fucking reason!"

"Fura!" Arima took a step towards the school boy. "Calm down! We can just capture him, and sort this out-"

"...K-Kashima Yuugo," the ghoulette said weakly, the name nearly distorted to static by her now damaged voice-changer.

"What?! Was that one of your ghoul friends or something? Is that it? This is about some shitty revenge plot?" the orange-haired boy blinked in confusion when Lantern began to laugh, the noise sounding almost demonic through the static and their mask. "W-What's so funny?!"

"Hehe...Kashima-san is...a convenience store owner. Last year, he was stuck up in his shop by a trio of punk teenagers," the look in the ghoul's eyes became manic as they leaned towards the teen. "One of them swung a fucking bat into his head. He had to get 23 stitches and spend half that year in the hospital. He's still afraid to this day that it'll happen again, the man can't even watch somebody come into his shop without getting terrified."

"N-No...no, that's not-"

"You hit me with the exact same bat you hit him with, you fucking _thug_!" the pumpkin-masked ghoul hissed venomously. "And you think you have the right to call _me _a monster? What a joke?"

Fura's hands released the ghoul to the floor, and he backed away in shock. "N-No, that's not what...Don't turn this around on me-"

"I can keep going if you want? Just at the beginning of this year, there was a woman from Nerima, she was here because her job needed her...some kids stuck her up in an alleyway," Lantern's red eyes narrowed when it saw the look of horror spreading across the boy's face. "Yeah, you remember that one, don't you? She was newly widowed too...and your asshole friend, Ryou, said he'd kill her three children if she didn't comply. And even after you three got her cash, your bitch friend Aki stabbed the poor woman anyway."

All of the rage Fura had shown before was gone. As the ghoul shakily stood to its feet, all he could think about were the faces of those two people. Of the man he put in the hospital...the woman Aki stabbed, her tear-filled grey eyes and fogged glasses now back to the forefront of his mind.

"I always admired you humans, y'know? That life you have...you have no idea what this is like, to live like we do...like _I_ do," blood and spittle flew from Minami's mouth as she stepped towards the boy, a low growl escaping her throat. "I have to go out and kill a _person_ to eat! A person! Somebody who looks, acts, feels, and thinks like I do. And I'm always afraid, because if I ever get found out, the people I thought I could trust won't even see me as a person anymore. I'm just a thing to them! Something that doesn't deserve to live! Just because I'm _not _a human!"

"B-But, that's not-"

"I was watching you and your friends. Others too...you all had that same mindset. You had that attitude about you, the one where you'd never be satisfied in life," the ghoulette brought a hand to her mouth as more blood escaped her throat. "All of you could have lived normal lives...but you hurt others, you caused all sorts of suffering. While _I'm_ supposed to live like a rat...so yeah, I killed them. All those shitstains who disrupted the peace. It's just trash being cleaned by worse trash, right?"

Fura swallowed the lump in his throat as he tried to muster the will to grab his bat. He wanted to yell at the _thing_, to tell them they were wrong, to defend the people who were important to him...But _their_ faces flashed across his vision before he could conjure the words he wanted to say. The man he had brutalized, the woman they had mugged and stabbed...All of his protests died in his throat. The ghoul tilted its head, and the boy could tell it was grinning sardonically, even through its mask.

"You already figured it out, huh? If you had kept going...you'd be exactly where Ryou is," Lantern walked forward and spit a small amount of blood onto his face. "Well, go ahead and get it over with! You were already on your way to this...have fun knowing you're a thug _and_ a killer, you monster!"

"Ho-ly-fucking _shit_!" Katou cried out. "This is so boring! Like, who the fuck care about your shitty sob story?!"

"Yeah, what a whiny little pussy!" Yamori drawled out. "Just kill his ass and get this over with! I've got shit to do!"

Arima grabbed Fura by shoulder, a concerned look on his face. "Fura...do you think you can do this?"

"...N-No...Arima, please, just-" the orange-haired boy wobbled in place for a split-second. "Just let me...let me get something in, before you take care of this."

The bluenette nodded solemnly at his friend's request, and strode over to Lantern. The ghoul had already fallen back to it's knees, the only thing it could do was try in vain to stifle the bleeding. Arima sighed tiredly as he held one of his blades over the poor creature's head, ready to strike.

"Fura, go ahead."

The orange-haired boy licked his lips nervously, and took a shaky step forward. "T-There are a lot of things I could say to you...I wanted to defend my friends, to say that you were wrong, but...you're not. What you did, it was awful! You killed people, but…" the teen chewed the inside of his cheek as the ghoul looked up at him. "But you're right. What I did, what they did...we weren't any better...I guess, apologizing for all this won't make it better, will it?"

In her own mind, Minami wanted to tell him in not so kind words to get bent. All she could do was chuckle as her vision began to grow darker. Whether it was from her dying, or the tears flowing from her eyes, she didn't know.

'M-Moriomi-kun...I never got to tell you that I love you…' a small sob escaped her throat. 'And now, I blew it. All this is exactly what you came to stop from happening...I wish I could say-'

She didn't know if this was death or not. It felt like she was being pulled into the air by some unseen force and spirited away, lifted from the living world straight to the next. The only thing that came from her mouth was gurgled and ineligible, but the meaning was clear.

"I'm...sorry…"

* * *

**Ōta ward, Tokyo**

**8 years ago**

Eight-year old Minami Uruka was lonely in her own home.

It wasn't that she was unloved or unwanted. On the rare occasions that either or both of her parents came home, they showered her with all the affection in the world. Yet it always seemed like they were making up for lost time.

If they weren't working deep into the night, they were off securing food and dragging the doves on a wild goose chase throughout other wards. All the while, Uruka was stuck inside, unable to go out for fear she would be caught. Any interactions with human children were brief, if non-existant, or she'd be caught. The need to be paranoid was a mindset that had been drilled into her since she was born.

_That _day was no different. The ghoul child was alone, waiting as the time went by till she saw at least one of her parents. All the while, she would idly stare out a nearby glass door from her spot on her couch every few minutes. To her, there was nothing to do but wait and preoccupy herself with books she had already read and movies she had already watched.

It was only when something flashed through the corner of her eye, that the small ghoulette froze. As she sat up straight, Uruka could feel her jaw dropping at what she was witnessing.

There was a boy climbing down the roof of the house next door. He was crawling on his hands and stomach, trying to keep low to the roof as he shuffled over to the nearby gutter pipe. Every movement he made was slow, almost as if he wasn't sure of what he was doing.

His hesitation ended when the window behind him _exploded _outward.

The boy next door clambered across the roof, and shimmied down the pipe so fast it almost seemed as though he leapt to the ground. The fence separating their yard hid him from sight for only a few seconds, before he climbed over it. Immediately after landing in her yard, he turned back to stare at his home, flinching as smoke continued to billow from within.

Uruka's curiosity got the better of her, and she quietly opened the sliding door to her backyard.

The moment she was outside, she could only hear chaos. Shouting could be heard from within the boy's house, there were roars and crashes as things were thrown around and broken, and gunshots. The ghoulette flinched as another explosion resounded from within, followed by a mad bout of laughter.

Then her eyes fell upon the boy. He was maybe around her age, with messy jet-black hair going down to his neck. His clothes, a brown turtleneck shirt and jeans, were ragged and covered in dirt and grime.

Something Uruka couldn't make out was shouted from within the house, but the boy stiffened upon hearing it. As another explosion erupted from within the building, he finally broke down, dropping to the ground and tearing apart the grass beneath him as tears cascaded down his face.

The girl took a few tentative steps toward him, and swallowed her anxiety. "H-Hey! What are you doing?" the small ghoul winced when the boy went stiff. "Are you alright?"

Then he looked up at her. When she saw the boy's red and black eyes, she tilted her head in minute shock. The other ghoul quietly stared at her for several seconds, before hanging his head in shame.

Another shout erupted from within the house next door, and she instantly understood. Uruka bit her lip, and walked over to the boy, laying a hand on his shoulder to console him. When he looked back at her in shock, she had already activated her own kakugan.

"Come with me!" she hissed lowly, grabbing the boy by his arm before he could even respond.

The ghoulette pulled the boy along quickly, looking back at the burning home to make sure none of the investigators inside noticed them. As she opened the sliding door, the two of them heard the pained scream of a woman from inside the burning house. The boy stiffened at this, and a fresh wave of tears began falling from his eyes.

"Hey! It'll be alright!" Uruka said gently as she quietly closed the door. "Just calm down. You'll be alright, I promise…"

For the next minute, she locked every door and window from the inside. Her parents had keys, and they'd understand the moment they saw the CCG vans on the street. Once she was done, she went back to the other ghoul child, and gently pulled him along.

"Come on, follow me," she said sweetly. "Everything is going to be alright. You're safe now-"

"M-My mom! My dad," the boy's voice cracked, and he wobbled in place. "The doves...t-they're-"

"Hey, it's alright! You're okay, that's what they would want," Uruka gently rubbed the boy's arm to calm him down. "Now come on! They'll come around the neighborhood asking questions, so we gotta find a place for you to hide."

He nodded absently as the girl led him up the stairs, still shell shocked and distraught from what was happening. Once they were upstairs, the ghoulette flung the door to her room open and pulled the boy inside, much to his hesitancy. As she pulled down the blinds on her window, she noticed a blush spreading across his face.

"Is everything alright?"

"Y-Yes!" the boy squeaked.

Uruka blinked owlishly at this, then shook her head. "Alright, well...my parents work all night, so it'll be awhile before they come home. But they can help. They'll know what to do, I promise!" the girl motioned to her bed. "The doves can't come in here without permission, so we should be alright...still, go on and hide."

He stared at her bed in mute shock, before craning his neck to look at her. "You want me to hide...under...your bed?"

"Uh huh," the ghoulette tilted her head at him in confusion. "Is there a problem?"

"N-No, I...just give me a minute," the boy took a deep breath as he lowered himself to the floor.

Once he had fully secured himself beneath the bed, Uruka let out a cheerful giggle. She laid in front of the boy, holding her face up with her hands, and sent him a bright and reassuring smile.

"This won't be too bad. This'll be just like a sleepover-" she flinched as another explosion could be heard from outside, accompanied by a loud shout. "M-Maybe most sleepovers don't start like this, but still..." the boy's crying began anew, and she gently rubbed his arm to soothe him. "Hey! It's alright, you're safe. Everything is going to be alright."

He sniffled quietly as he tried to wipe away his tears, and gave her a faltering smile. "T-Thank you. You...you're protecting me, even though they could come in here and…" the boy gritted his teeth. "I'm sorry! My parents, they always said to never talk to you or any of the neighbors. I saw you were lonely, but I...I thought…"

"You thought we were human," Uruka finished, letting out a quiet laugh as he looked away. "Yeah, my parents thought up a special trick for that."

"That's...cool…"

"Hey, what's your name?" the ghoulette chewed the inside of her cheek when he shrank in place. "You don't have to tell me if you don't want-"

"N-No, it's fine," the boy said shyly. "My name is Moriomi. It's nice to meet you."

"My name is Uruka," the girl said cheerfully. "It's nice to meet you too, Morio-kun~!"

* * *

**Present**

Minami's eyes shot open, and a gasp escaped her throat. For a time, she felt like she was swaying around, until it occurred to her that she was being carried. Her apparent savior ran with such speed that in her already weakened state, the movement was dizzying. Eventually, they set her down onto the hard stone floor, cradling her head gently in their lap.

"W-Who is it?" she croaked.

There was no answer, at least not immediately. Beyond the black spots clouding her vision, she saw her rescuer's hand hovering over her face. Her vision began growing dark again when, suddenly, a foul taste began spreading through her mouth. Foul like rotten meat left out to spoil, worse than anything she had ever tasted. But even though she wished she could gag at it, she seemed incapable of doing so.

Yet somehow, she could keep the foul taste down.

Her mind cleared enough that she could see clearly, and she lifted herself up just as her wounds slowly knit themselves together. Her hand weakly groped around her own face, finding that her mask was gone. When she looked around, she could see a small figure in a dark hoodie looming over her, a mask covering the lower half of their face, and bright green eyes that stared at her in concern.

The girl squinted for a few seconds as realization dawned on her. "K-Kenta?" the masked boy nodded, causing the girl to shrink back a bit. "What a-are you doing here? How did y-you know I would be…"

The quiet boy gave her a shrug, an unreadable expression blossoming within his eyes. Minami blinked at his empty hands for several seconds, before her palm harshly met her own face.

"You don't have your notepad, do you?" the ghoulette sagged when the boy nodded. "Okay, so...is Riley around?"

Kentetsu nodded, then made an enlarging gesture with his hands, accompanied by a loud pop.

"So he's around and he's...what?" the boy made the gesture again, this time with a sizzling noise while pointing behind him. "Yeah, I get it, everybody would use their kagune in this situa-okay, back to before, how did you even know I would be here?"

The quiet boy bit his lip, then held a hand up to his ear in a listening gesture. Then he held his hand in front of her, and made a walking motion with his middle and ring finger.

"Okay, this sign bull is ridiculous...I'm assuming you followed me to the construction site I met with them at, and eavesdropped," the doe-eyed girl let out a tired sigh as the boy nodded. "And you two, being idiot kids, decided to follow me here."

Kentetsu nodded...and then the girl immediately slapped him in the face.

"You assholes!" she hissed lowly. "I don't care what was gonna happen to me! It was inevitable, all of us bite the bullet to a fucking dove one day or another! But you two are kids! You don't deserve to die early! You should have stayed in my apartment, waited for the bad fucking news, and gone home!"

The quiet boy rubbed his face gingerly, giving the girl a somber look as he sagged in place. Minami chewed the inside of her cheek, and turned away with a strained expression. After a few seconds, she laid a hand on the boy's shoulder.

"I'm sorry, I just...I've known you guys for maybe a week, and you've grown on me. I know Morio cares about you, so I'd never be able to forgive myself if…" the ghoulette stopped herself short, leaving it out in the air. After a few seconds, she remembered the foul taste in her mouth, and palmed her lips in confusion. "God, what is this? It tastes awful!"

Kentetsu held one of his hands up, revealing the slowly healing cut on his palm. Minami's eyes went wide at this, and she shuffled back a few feet in mute shock.

"Y-You _fed_ me?" the girl blanched as he nodded. "I haven't ever...god, I feel like I'm gonna barf! I don't like to be a...damn it!"

The quiet boy shook his head as he gently helped her stand up. Nearby, she noticed her cracked pumpkin mask discarded onto the floor, and immediately she scooped it up and donned it once again. The preteen sighed at this, but allowed her to use him as support to walk nonetheless.

Minami tilted her head thoughtfully as she took in their surroundings. An old classroom, with worn chairs on top of old desks, many of which had already fallen to pieces long ago. At the front of the room was a cracked chalkboard covered in ineligible chicken scratch.

"This must have been a school then...an old one," the girl mused as they walked past the cracked and torn doorway. "Probably a private school that closed once the bubble popped. I think a few places that weren't smart with their money got screwed over by that...hehe…"

Kentetsu hummed lowly in response.

"H-Hey, whose idea was it?" she flinched at the quiet boy's confused look. "T-To follow me? Was it yours?"

The preteen nodded.

"That was an awful idea," Minami's face fell beneath her mask as the boy sent her a deadpan look. "I'm guessing Riley's idea wasn't any better?"

Kentetsu gave her an unreadable shrug.

"Wonderful! I bet he actually thought they were gonna team up with me to take down the doves, right?" the ghoulette shook her head in exasperation. "I...I can't be too hard on the big guy. He seems like he's not used to everything around him. And he's all jumpy too, like he's worried everybody might kill him or something."

The quiet boy held up his hand, then curled his fingers inward until only his index finger remained raised. Then he pointed to his right eye, before motioning to the girl. When she stared at him blankly, he repeated the action.

"One-eye? Kenta, I get it, he has a scar under the eyepatch," Minami said hotly. "Doesn't mean I wanna draw attention to it. That's just plain rude to judge him for that."

Kentetsu's palm slammed into his own face as soon as she said that.

For several minutes, the two of them traversed the abandoned school in near silence, save for the doe-eyed girl's occasional quips. They kept to the back rooms, shying away from areas at the slightest sound that felt off. Eventually, Kentetsu came upon what he _thought _would lead to an exit.

And then a problem arose.

To get to the exit, they had to go through a back room. Easy enough, considering the room in question, while locked, had two holes in its walls on either side. One could enter into either the left or right hallways beside it freely if they wished.

The problem with the left hallway, which led to the exit, was the giant piece of destroyed roof that blocked the way out. Kentetsu wasn't strong enough to move it on his own, and Minami wasn't in any state to help.

The ghoulette's reaction to the situation, when she saw the stone barricade, was rather succinct.

"Fuck my life!" she groaned. "It's a fucking dead end!"

"Che, I'll say!"

The two of them turned around to find the two ghouls from before. Yamori stood only a few feet behind Katou, but the expression in his eyes only grew as he leaned towards them. Katou's mad grin only expanded as he stepped closer.

"Well, well, well! Looks like you got a little friend," the blonde chuckled. "Hey, kid! If you let us finish that bastard off, I _might_ let you live...with all four limbs."

The quiet boy's response was to release his kagune, the thin bird-like wings shimmering brightly as he stared the two down. Katou matched this action, his wings much broader and already brimming with spikes.

"Look at this little punk! His wings are like chicken bones!" Yamori released his twin rinkaku tails as he took a few steps forward. "This'll be easy!"

As the two older ghouls charged forward, Kentetsu raised his wings angrily. Then, there was a loud rumbling sound behind him...

* * *

"And you're sure you saw _two_ more people come in?"

"Yes you idiot! Two people in black hoods. One was tall, the other was kinda short. But they both walked in!" Fuka said over the phone. "I figured they might be homeless people or something. Then I thought they were the ghouls you said you tagged...anyway, I called your guy."

"Marude? What did he say?"

"That this was, and I quote, 'A line meant to report actual serious events, not for some dumb kid to prank call'," the girl grumbled over the line in a terrible impression of the man's voice. "Then he hung up on me!"

"Yes, that sounds like Marude," Arima mused as he walked through the building. The bluenette let out a short sigh as he adjusted his glasses, and held the phone closer to his face. "Okay, look, call him again. Then, tell him, and I cannot stress this enough, tell him that...'Arima is out grocery shopping, but he doesn't think he'll be able to carry it all himself'."

"Are you fucking serious?!" Fura called out as he ran ahead of the boy. "That's your fucking secret code?"

"The CCG doesn't ever feel the need to have ones that are better," the bespectacled teen said flatly. "I mean, no ghoul is going to just hack into our systems, and really all the basic plans to handle them are just 'go in, kill the things, clean up afterwards'. It's the system we've had since a while now."

"He's not wrong, it sounds stupid compared to how the _actual _police handle things," Fuka said from the other end of the line. "What ever~! So, just say that I'm out grocery shopping?"

"No, that _I'm_ out grocery shopping," the bluenette hissed.

"...We're out grocery shopping?"

"Repeat after me!"

"Okay?!"

"Arima-"

"Arima-"

"Is out grocery shopping-"

"Is out grocery shopping-"

"But he doesn't think he can carry it all by himself," the teen finished.

"But he doesn't think he can carry it all by himself?"

"Yes, there!" Arima said loudly. "You have it. Repeat it a few times by yourself before calling them again just to be sure. If I don't get that backup...well, I probably won't be pleased...I'll mess with the ink in your printer."

"What?"

"For the school paper! I'll mess with the ink for the school paper, so the next few issues will just be completely black pages."

"You wouldn't _dare_-"

"Make sure I don't get my ass handed to me by a random ghoul tonight, and I won't have to _dare_," the bluenette said curtly. "I'm cutting this off! We have to be quiet from here on out-"

"Wait! What were the words again-"

***BEEP***

"Okay, we just need to figure out where the two ghouls went," Arima craned his neck to see Fura lagging behind a few paces. "They'll probably track Lantern by scent. Once they've caught up to him, we can handle all three."

"Y-Yeah, great…"

The bluenette slid to a halt, and turned to face the other boy. "Fura, is something wrong?"

"...I'm a bad person, aren't I?"

"Fura, he was just trying to get under your skin," Arima said flatly. "Everything he said was a lie-"

"It wasn't!" the orange-haired boy cried out. "W-When he mentioned those people...he was right. I still remember their faces."

"...So...the convenience store owner-"

"Y-Yeah," Fura said shakily, holding his bad up with a blank expression. "Same bat too, just like Lantern said."

"...And, your friend Aki-"

"The woman, I think I saw her I.D...Kaneki, that was her name or something...Aki, she stabbed her. And she laughed about it...I..." the school boy began pulling at his hair and let out a noise almost like a mix between a growl and a whine. "I can't think straight! Everything we did..._I _did! I'm…"

"Fura! Calm down!" Arima walked up to the other teen, and gently laid a hand on his shoulder.

"Calm down?! Arima, Lantern said it himself, he would have killed me, even after I _had_ stopped. I'm no better than…" the orange-haired boy gritted his teeth angrily. "I feel like an awful person. I...I can't even think about my friends, 'cause when I try to remember the good, I keep remembering-"

"Fura, you're not a bad person," the bluenette reassured him. "You started coming back to school, I think. There was a reason for that, wasn't there?" the bespectacled teen held his friend's shoulders in a locked grip as he stared him down. "You wanted to be a better person, that must be it, right? You're not the thug that beat up a store-owner or that did any of those other things. You're Fura Taishi, you're the first person I can actually call my friend, and I can tell that for the past year, you've been trying to improve yourself."

Fura stared back at Arima with a confused expression, before letting out a dry chuckle. "I don't even pay attention in class," the orange-haired boy dragged his palm across his face in exasperation. "And I never bring any of the materials either. I'm a screwup even when I'm trying to fix my own screwups."

"You're trying, aren't you? If you didn't want to fix your life, you wouldn't try at all," the bluenette nodded firmly as his friend stood up straight. "Now come on! We can't let him get away!"

"R-Right!" the school boy nodded back, and they continued along through the derelict halls. "I don't think I'll feel right about...y'know…"

"We don't have to kill him," Arima clicked his teeth hotly. "We can capture him. He'll be brought to a ghoul detention center, where they'll grill him for information if he has any. If they choose, they can end him there," the bluenette noticed the determined look on his friend's face. "We won't lose him this time."

"I sure fucking hope not…" the orange-haired boy grumbled.

After several more minutes of running, the two of them found themselves near one of the upstairs exits. Arima pulled Fura back into the shadows just as Yamori and Katou rounded a corner, both with rage visibly wrought upon their faces. The ghouls made a turn into a nearby hallway, the blonde stopping for a split second as his mouth twisted into a smirk, before continuing on.

"I think they found them," Arima said flatly.

"Fuck my life!" Lantern groaned, his broken voice-changer distorting his speech to almost disturbing pitches. "It's a fucking dead end!"

"Che, I'll say!" Yamori chuckled.

"Really?" Fura gave the bluenette a deadpan stare. "I wonder what made you think that?"

"Well, now for the next part of the plan," Arima said as he inched the two of them closer to the corner. His eyes narrowed as the two healthy ghouls began mocking their opponent. "We'll take all four of them by surprise, and capture them."

"I dunno...something feels...off," Fura leaned forward to scope out the hallway around the corner, a frown spreading across his face. "Something about this feels like a trap."

"Fura..._we're_ the ones who set up a trap," the bespectacled teen hissed. "We have nothing to worry about."

"Alright, if you say so…" the orange-haired boy shrugged as he turned to look around the corner again. "They're about to attack-"

"Right then! Get ready!"

"Look at this little punk! His wings are like chicken bones!" Yamori released his twin rinkaku tails as he took a few steps forward. "This'll be easy!"

The two ghouls charged at their weaker opponents, mad laughter erupting from their throats as they gleefully speared their kagune towards them. The other two ghouls ducked lowly and tried to shield themselves from the attacks, to little effect.

Then the giant piece of stone blocking the hallway behind Lanter and his ally began shaking a low rumbling emanating from it as it scraped against the floor. Katou and Yamori stop their attack just in time to see the boulder being flung to the side, and straight out of the window to the ground below.

Katou's yelp was quickly muffled as a tall, hooded figure grabbed him by the face. The blonde was shaken around like a ragdoll, and the large figure began socking him in the stomach with their fist, causing the ghoul to vomit. The giant let out a disgusted grunt, but tightened its grip on its victim nonetheless.

Then the blonde started to scream.

The tall figure's body began exuding steam in copious amounts, and the two teens could feel the air nearby getting warmer and more humid. Muffled as they were, Katou's screams were gut-wrenching and disturbing.

Beneath the giant's hand, they could practically see the ghoul's skin cracking apart, bubbling, and sizzling like meat on a grill. Bits of hair popped and swelled in places where it wasn't wholly burning, and ruined clumps began to fall off entirely. The heat became so intense that the fat on the blonde's skin began to melt off and fall to the floor. Soon enough, the bone white of his skull could be seen, already cracking from the heat, with some of it blackening from the treatment. The stench of burning flesh and bone was so pungent, even Arima felt like he would lose his lunch from it.

Katou's screams had stopped long before his skin had been burning. The tall figure tilted its head at the freshly cooked corpse in its palm, before discarding it blithely like a piece of trash. The steam wafting from its body dissipated as it turned its attention to Yamori.

Having someone literally staring down at him was a new experience for the thuggish ghoul, as this giant was a good head or so taller than he was. What really struck terror into Yamori's mind wasn't the fact that the taller ghoul had killed his rival/acquaintance, nor was it the way they had killed him. Rather, it was the giant's eyes.

The thug didn't even have time to blink before a sharp pain erupted within his chest.

In a split second, the tall figure was holding two racks of human-like ribs directly into his face. The thing had just torn his _ribs _out and was now showing them to him, just to mock him. Yamori couldn't even muster a counterattack before a massive, charcoal black tail slammed into him and flung him out of a nearby window.

This left the tall figure seemingly alone. It turned around and shuffled over to its allies, helping Lantern to their feet. The smaller hooded ghoul grabbed onto Katou's corpse, causing the pumpkin-masked ghoul to let out an exasperated huff.

And the two teens could only hold their backs against the wall as the three ghouls around the corner reconvened. Both of them had gone white from seeing the ghoul being burned alive. Neither of them could move from their spot, no matter how much they tried.

"A-Arima…" Fura squeaked. "W-What is t-that thing?"

"B-Bikaku type...189 cm tall...n-no, 190, m-maybe?" the bluenette shakily leaned towards the corner again to get a better look. "P-Possible k-kakuja?"

"Kaku-what-now?"

"In China, j-just a while ago...there w-was a ghoul with a kakuja-that's a specialized form of k-kagune. His kakuja allowed him to produce _fire_," Arima shrunk in place as the tall ghoul turned to face their direction. "This c-could be the same ability...if it's unique. All sorts of g-ghouls can do similar things. I heard of some ukaku-types that c-could produce electrical discharge from their wings."

"What do w-we _do_?!" the orange-haired boy hissed. "That thing c-could kill us!"

"We just need to h-hide, and pray that my backup is c-coming," the bespectacled teen tried to state firmly. "B-Besides, they haven't seen us. We have the element of surprise-"

"You cannot hide…" a raspy voice echoed through the hallway.

The two teens froze in terror, flinching as heavy footsteps grew closer and closer.

"I...see...you…"

***CRACK***

Arima flinched as small pieces of debris fell over him, causing his body to clam up. When he turned, he saw the giant looming over them, his left hand buried into the wall to the point that the stone was cracking and crumbling beneath his fingers. More importantly, while the tall figure wore a mask that covered the lower half of its face, the half-human could see the ghoul's eyes.

Left eye, sky blue. Right...black and red.

"O-One eye?" the bluenette gasped, going ghost white as the half-ghoul reached for him.

"Get the fuck away you giant asshole!"

***CRAAAAAACK***

Fura jumped from his spot on the ground, and slammed his bat straight into the thing's head. The giant was knocked back slightly from the impact, but it still stood on its two feet. Even with the threat of the school boy's bat, the tall hybrid only began walking forward slowly.

"Stay back! I said fucking stay back, you!" Fura swung his bat into the giant's head yet again, this time knocking it to his left. "Yeah! I fucking told you to-OOF!"

The half-ghoul's retort was to slam a fist straight into the orange-haired boy's gut, causing the teen to unceremoniously fall to the floor, clutching his stomach in pain. After giving him time to let out what was left of his lunch, the giant grabbed the school boy by the collar, and slammed him face-first into the wall. With Fura's face now stuck in a hole, the giant simply grabbed the boy's torso and charged forward, dragging the teen's head through the wall, regardless of whether or not the wall itself was in the way.

Eventually, the school boy gained a respite from his torment when the giant ran out of wall to drag him through, and flung him onto the floor. Fura attempted to lift himself off the ground to escape, but the tall ghoul's foot came down on his chest, preventing his movements. The teen grabbed the offending limb in hopes he could wrench himself free, only to feel the hybrid press down harder on his solar plexus.

***FWOOSH***

The weight on Fura's chest was lifted when Arima charged forward, katana-like quinques in each hand. The bluenette stared the one-eyed ghoul down with a fierce look, and pointed one of his blades in its direction.

"Come on then!"

"Oh now you bring thossse out...the ffffuck?" the orange-haired boy blinked at his involuntary whistling as he spoke. He put a finger to his mouth in curiosity, and growled in wordless rage. "Oh! Motherfffucker!"

"W-What? Fura, what happened?"

"He knocked my ffffront teeth!" Fura hissed, pulling himself off the ground as he looked for his bat. "I'm gonna break your ffffucking ssssskull you piece of sssshit!"

"Fura, cool it," Arima said flatly. "They'll grow back...I think? Now's not the time to worry about that."

"What, he beat my asssss, what are you gonna do?"

"You haven't had ghoul investigator training...or _my_ training," the bluenette crossed his twin blades together, a deep frown spreading across his face. "I can handle this."

"I...may...come at you," the hybrid rasped as his body began exuding steam once again. "And you...shall be broken...on my will."

"The fffuck isss he sssaying?" Fura wheezed. "Crazy bastard! Saying creepy shit like that!"

Arima blinked for a split second, then tilted his head. "Morugosu?"

The ghoul didn't answer, instead opting to release his monstrous kagune. The crocodile-like tail twisted and squirmed behind the hybrid, then whipped around into the nearby walls. A pair of extra limbs, like strange three fingered hands, sprouted from the base of the tail and splayed in front of the giant.

Arima charged forward, intent on cutting off the ghoul's arms. The extra hands spawned by the hybrid's kagune coiled around his arms, and the half-human's blades collided with the solid masses of RC, throwing sparks into the air. The one-eyed ghoul pushed the teen back, and slowly ambled his way towards him with a menacing glare.

The bluenette made for another charge, only to be stopped when a massive metal pole was slammed into the ground in front of him. The half-ghoul's kagune retracted, and the tail dropped the large pipe into the giant's left hand.

"So that's what you were doing," Arima mused. "How pragmatic of you...well then!" the bespectacled teen held his swords parallel to himself. "Let's go!"

The ensuing 'sword-fight' was a first for the bluenette. While the one-eyed ghoul's movements with the pipe were, at best, amatuer, Arima found himself unable to properly counter the attacks from his handheld weapon while also parrying strikes from his kagune. Every time he had a chance to disarm the giant, every chance he had a chance to direct the pipe away to leave the hybrid open for an attack, the half-ghoul's bikaku was there to intercept and pull his attention.

The half-breed's tail flew forward, seemingly missing his cheek by a hairwidth. The bespectacled teen jumped several paces back, aiming to keep as much distance between himself and the giant as possible. Already, he could feel a strange sensation around the left side of his cheek.

Arima palmed his face, and hummed thoughtfully when he saw his blood-stained fingers. "Oh! You cut me…instantly cauterized, but still..." the bluenette tilted his head in wonder. "This is a first, I'll admit. I suppose you'll have to die now."

The giant juggled the pipe into his right hand and swung it into the wall beside him _hard_, knocking chunks of stone into the air. Arima dodged the next several strikes, but soon found his task of getting an opening to strike more difficult than before. The bespectacled teen narrowed his eyes in suspicion as an idea formed in his head.

The two clashed yet again, this time with Arima laying down several extra strikes to the giant's improvised weapon. Strikes from the bikaku tail caused sparks around them that singed the bluenette's clothes, and the heat from the steam coalescing around them caused him to sweat. The half-ghoul's wheezing breath could be heard even through his mask, and his movements became erratic.

Arima finally decided to end it. The next clash between them, the teen swung his sword straight down onto the already heavily nicked pipe as hard as he could manage. The hybrid blinked as the pipe was slashed in half, the shorn portion dropping to the floor with a loud clatter. The giant narrowed his eyes as the bluenette stalked towards him.

"I'll admit, this was a surprise," the ghoul investigator tilted his head in thought as he crossed his blades in front of the hybrid's throat. "I can assume you were only buying time for the others? Still if this is all a one-eyed ghoul has to offer, I'm rather disappointed."

The vision in the bluenette's right eye blurred slightly as he picked up one of his quinques, and struck. When his vision cleared, Arima clicked his teeth upon seeing Yukimura ⅓ piercing through the hybrid's torso, directly where his lungs would be.

The one-eye simply let out a huff, and pulled the blade from its chest. The look in its eyes made it seem like it was almost _bored_ over having been stabbed. Arima, being so close to the giant, barely had any time to react before the hybrid's knee shot to the space between his legs.

"OOOF!" the bluenette fell to the floor clutching his groin, writhing around in pain. "T-That's...that's not...f-fair…"

The half-ghoul didn't pay him any mind, instead opting to pull the teen up by his shoulders, before slamming a fist into his stomach. Arima made to grab the giant's arm, but found a large hand clamping around his throat instead. The bluenette made the mistake of trying to pry the hybrid's hand from his neck, leaving himself open to the next few blows aimed straight for his face.

"HEY!"

The teen's glasses had already been thoroughly snapped in half when the loud shout erupted from behind the giant. The half-ghoul was once again subjected to the sensation of a metal bat fitted with nails being slammed into his face, knocking him to the ground.

Fura stood before the hybrid with a triumphant smirk. "Who the fffuck do you think you are, hitting a guy with glasses?"

"F-Fura?" Arima breathed out.

"Oi! I fffound my bat," the orange-haired teen helped his friend up. "The hell happened?"

"He nailed me in the…" the bluenette's hand went to his crotch as the seat of his pants rubbed the aching area the wrong way. "In _that_ place...I wasn't expecting it."

"Are you ssserious? You didn't think to plan for that? Wear a cup down there or sssomething!"

"Well, normal ghouls don't go below the belt," the investigator grumbled. "I guess one-eyes are different…"

"One-eye? Oh, you mean becaussse he only hasss one of those red and black eyessss," the school boy tilted his head as the giant lifted himself off the ground. "Hey! You ssstay down thisss time! You sssstay down or elssse I'll-"

***CHOMP***

The half-ghoul's kagune whipped around towards the boy's bat, shifting in midair as it did so. The reptilian limb grew a vicious, toothy mouth at the end, and six long fingers tipped with monstrous talons circling it like the limbs of an insect**. The kagune mouth clamped around Fura's bat, and tore it in half.

The former thug stared at his destroyed weapon in shock, before turning back to the giant with a terrified expression. The hybrid stood to his full height, and let out a wild growl as his kagune whipped around the hallway.

"Fura...we should run," Arima said lowly.

"But...Lantern-"

"We'll find him again," the bluenette said gently. "But you're clearly running on adrenaline, my genitals are probably bruised, and I have trouble seeing without my glasses."

"B-But we-"

***CRAAAACK***

***THWOOCOOOCHHHHHSSSSH***

The two school boys blinked owlishly as a large rock flew straight between their heads, cracking apart upon impacting the wall behind them. When they turned to face the tall ghoul, they noticed he was juggled another rock in his palm, ready to start pitching.

"Fffuck it, letsss get outta here!" the orange-haired boy growled.

* * *

"You're sure he's in here?"

"Yes! I said the grocery bullshit thing, what more do you want?!" Fuka threw her hands up in exasperation as the group of investigators gave her disbelieving looks.

"Marude, maybe it was a false alarm," one of the branch investigators said smugly.

"Doubtful. It's more likely that he's making a stink about a single ghoul," one of the senior investigators chuckled. "Still, if we manage to corner it, maybe having the big boy steal his kill will make him rethink his career choice, huh?"

"Che, yeah sure, whatever," Marude grumbled, turning back to the girl with a frown. "This better not be a trick-"

"GET OUT OF THE FFFUCKING WAY!"

"Eh?" the dark-haired investigator blinked as two teens barreled their way out of a nearby hallway. "Arima? The hell is that punk kid doing here with you? And what happened to you?"

"We were met...very extraneous circumstances when attempting to deal with Lantern," the bluenette said flatly. "And I have sustained...minor injuries-"

"I got my head dragged through a fffucking wall," Fura growled. "That thing is a fffucking monssster!"

"The hell is wrong with your voice, son?!" one of the investigators cried out.

"I wasss dragged...through a _wall_," the school boy hissed. "Ssso pardon my voice if it sounds kinda whissstly cause I lossst my fffront teeth."

"Arima, the hell is going on," Marude growled, grabbing the boy by the shirt roughly. The senior investigator flinched when the boy let out a groan. "What, what's wrong?"

"I got nailed in the groin," Arima said blankly. "I...did not prepare for such an event."

"That...has never happened before," the dark-haired man said after several seconds. "They never go below the belt...where's the ghoul you were after?"

"Pumpkin-mask, creepy tail, covered in its own blood?" Fuka asked dumbly.

"Yeah, that'sss how we remembered it," Fura groaned.

"Ah...I have some bad news for you guys…"

"What are you...no," the ghoul-hunting teen turned around, finding the object of his ire looming over him from the upper floor. "Lantern!"

The short, hooded ghoul from before stood in front of the weakened S-Rate ghoul, his wings splayed out behind him as a threat to the investigators. In his left hand was Katou's body, the pungent smell of charred meat still wafting from his burnt head.

Lantern's winged ally lifted his wings, making a barrage of ukaku shards rain down on the investigators. Fura instantly dove towards Fuka, knocking her away from a deluge of shards coming her way. Arima and the other ghoul investigators instantly took evasive maneuvers of their own.

The winged ghoul grabbed Lantern and flew over the humans, firing down shards as it went. Just as he stopped his attack, the air in the room got hotter, and a massive blast of steam erupted from the entrance to the hallway the two teens had come out of. The giant charged into the buildings lobby, knocking away any hapless humans it came across in it's escape.

When Marude tried to stop the beast alongside his fellow investigators, the tall ghoul's kagune whipped forward to collide with them. Those that dodged his initial strike were treated to the shocking sight of the giant's single red and black eye, before being knocked to the side. The half-ghoul crashed through the already ruined front doors, and quickly disappeared from sight alongside his allies.

* * *

**Shibuya Ward, Tokyo**

**Apartment hallway**

The three ghouls walked through the hallway to the apartment in silence. The ghoulette leaned against Kentetsu's shoulder to help support her weight, while the tall boy held on fast to the nearby wall. Minami felt up her lips gingerly, flinching at the feeling of ghoul blood on her fingertips. Her other hand held onto her pumpkin mask weakly, nearly dropping it as she went along.

"S-So...are we gonna talk about...uh…"

"I'm sorry," Riley said quietly. "I didn't mean to hurt you like that and scream in your face. I just didn't want you to die. I couldn't live with that-"

"Hey, it's alright! I...I'm not thrilled about the cannibalism thing, yeah, but...I didn't want to die. So thanks, both of you. I shouldn't have gone psycho over that when you were just trying to help me," the ghoulette frowned when she looked at the corpse Kentetsu held. "I'm still not sure about bringing that though."

"You don't have to eat it now...just, eat something to heal yourself," the tall boy gave the girl a solemn look. "If we had gotten there sooner-"

"Don't say that! You two could have gotten hurt-you did get hurt, didn't you?" Minami frowned as the half-ghoul wobbled in place. "Yeah, you said you were hit in the head with a bat. How are you standing?"

"I don't know…" Riley flinched as a sharp pain lanced through his head. The tall boy cradled his head gently as a tingling sensation spread through his right eye. "Ugh, I don't think I can stand for long though."

"Y-Yeah, and that's another thing," the doe-eyed girl pointed to the silver-haired boy's single red eye. "You're...you're a real one-eyed ghoul?"

"I am," the hybrid gave her a deadpan expression. "And I wasn't thrilled about being compared to a sasquatch."

"...You could've just told me," Minami deadpanned. "How? I mean, if the rumours are true, how are you-"

"My dad," Riley said tiredly. "He's the one I inherited being a giant from, I guess. He's my human parent...w-was my human parent."

"O-Oh...I'm sorry, I didn't...I just have so many questions," the ghoulette flinched at the boy's cold expression. "You're not interested in answering them, are you?"

"Considering I feel like I could fall over any second...no, I don't think I'm particularly in the mood for it," the half-ghoul shook his head weakly. "I'm sorry, I just...my head feels like it's gonna split in two, and I'm still trying to keep myself upright."

"Yeah, I got ya," Minami palmed the left side of her waist. "I still can't tell left from right over here."

Riley blinked owlishly at this, then held up his right hand in curiosity. "I don't think I can either…"

There was a near minute of silence between them up until they drew closer to the doe-eyed girl's apartment. Then, with a sigh, she decided to drop the bombshell then and there.

"I'm gonna tell Moriomi that I love him."

"...Eh?" the half-ghoul blinked in shock at her statement.

Kentetsu mirrored the hybrid as he sputtered wordlessly at the girl's declaration, taking care not to drop her by accident. The ghoulette let out a low chuckle and shook her head at their reactions, then straightened her back.

"Yeah, I'd prefer to do it _before _we tell him that I almost died...it might soften the blow a bit," a shaky grin spread across her face. "At least when that does get out, it'll already be overshadowed by my declaration of love and all."

"I...should we be outta the room then?" Riley asked nervously. "I always figured that girls want to be alone with the guy when they confess."

"Where'd you hear that?"

"A movie I saw…" the hybrid flinched back when the girl gave him a deadpan look. "W-When I was 5."

"I don't think I'll be able to face him alone...considering the nearly dying thing is what I'll tell him right after," a small grun escaped the ghoulette's lips as she clutched her side. "Also, I can't stand up by myself for more than a few seconds right now, so there's that."

The tall boy chewed the inside of his cheek, then sighed. "I'll try to keep my reaction down...if I don't pass out once we get back."

"Hey, as long as you guys cheer me on," Minami chuckled.

"Kenta's been waiting for you to get together with Morio since we met," Riley said offhandedly. When the boy in question tried to wave his free hand to deny it, he was met with a cocky grin. "Kenta, I saw one of the notes you used with Tetsuo. Don't lie."

The quiet boy sagged in place at this.

Eventually, the three of them reached the girl's apartment. The half-ghoul being the closest to the door, opened it as gently as he could, and ushered the other two inside. Immediately, they were greeted by the sight of a visibly fatigued Moriomi and Tetsuomi both sitting on the couch in lax positions. The moment the dark-haired teen saw the state the three were in, he jumped to his feet in hysterics.

"U-Uruka? What the hell happened?! Why are you covered in blood-Mhmmpfh?!"

Moriomi seized up as the girl nearly tackled him to the floor, and pulled him into a deep kiss. The two preteens shrank in place at this, the quiet one looking away awkwardly while the tall one blushed deeply. The redhead blinked owlishly at the scene before him, then slid up to the two boys while eyeing the other two teens in confusion.

"So..._this_ is happening now," Tetsuomi noticed the hybrid wobbling in place. "I guess the sexual tension must have been too much, huh?" the redhead flinched when the quiet boy gave him a deadpan glare, and wilted beneath his adopted brother's gaze. "Alright, there's a story behind all this, isn't there?"

"Mwah!" Minami pulled away from the kiss, breathing raggedly as she looked her childhood friend in the eye. "Morio-kun! I love you!"

"H-Huh?!"

"I've wanted to say it for a long time, I just...I never had the chance, and you left for the tunnels years ago, so…" the doe-eyed girl buried her face into her crush's chest. "With everything that just happened, I realized I couldn't hold off on this."

"Everything that just-I don't...Uruka," Moriomi pulled the girl away from his chest, and gently cradled her chin between his thumb and index finger as an unreadable expression spread across his face. "I wish you would have said this 3 years ago."

"M-Morio-kun? Wha-mmmm!" the ghoulette all but sinks into the floor as her childhood friend pulls her into another deep kiss. When their lips broke away from one another, the girl could only look up at the raven-haired teen with a dazed look. "I'm sorry...I...I'm glad that you think the same way."

"There's so much to say...but, I need to know," Moriomi tilted his head towards the two boys with a concerned expression. "I really _need_ to know what happened. Why you guys have blood all over you, why it looks like you're half-dead, the works."

A small chuckle escaped the hybrid's throat as he wobbled in place. "I'd really like to tell you from the beginning...but I'm afraid I'm a bit busy falling over unconscious for me to do that."

"Oh...wait, what?!"

***THUMP***

* * *

When Riley awoke, he found Kentetsu looming over him, concern written across the other boy's face. The quiet preteen looked at him apprehensively for several seconds, then pulled up his notepad and began writing.

'Are you alright?'

"_T-Think so," _the tall boy grumbled in english. "_How long was I out?"_

'_Almost an hour,'_ the smaller boy quickly switched his writing to english as well. '_I'm guessing you're switching to english cause it's easier?"_

"_Yeah, I'm pretty sure if I try to speak Japanese, I'll just spout gibberish right now,"_ the hybrid looked past the boy to see the teens speaking amongst themselves, and tilted his head in thought. "_What happened while I was out?"_

'_Well, so far…'_

"Okay, let me just get this straight," Tetsuomi said firmly, pointing to the ghoulette as she curled around her new boyfriend and nuzzled herself firmly into the crook of his neck. "You secretly snuck out the other night to meet the most shady ghouls in the ward, and ended up falling for the most _obvious_ trap in existence."

"Y-Yeah…" Minami pressed herself into Moriomi further as she wilted beneath the redhead's gaze. "I guess I should have realized-"

"And you two-oh hey, Riley's awake..._you two_!" Tetsuomi narrowed his red eyes at the two young boys. "You followed her, figured out she was running into a trap, and put yourselves in danger to try and save her."

'More or less,' the quiet boy wrote.

"_I guess. The plan was to get her out and run through a back exit,"_ the tall boy flinched at the redhead's confusion, and silently thanked Kentetsu as the smaller boy translated for him. "_I can't give a lot of details, since I have a headache-"_

"Yeah, I'd imagine getting hit with a fucking bat would give you a hell of a migraine," Tetsuomi deadpanned. "What were you thinking? Were you even thinking at all?! What possessed you to do something that stupid?!"

'Not wanting to watch Morio get depressed seemed like a good reason at the time,' the quiet boy wrote. 'Also, not having our new friend _dying_ was the main reason.'

"Kenta...jesus fucking christ, you'll make my blood pressure spike up like this," the redhead growled. At his surrogate brother's apologetic look, his anger subsided just a bit. "Just, please don't pull off crazy shit like this again. I can't lose you…"

'I thought I could trust my instinct on-'

"Bad call," Tetsuomi grabbed the boy's hand gently, interrupting his writing. "You can't trust your instinct for _everything_. In a fight or flight situation, and when it's literally screaming at you, you better listen, but if you think it's a good idea to dive headfirst into a trap that could get you killed, well…" the redhead let out a sardonic chuckle. "That ain't instinct man. That's bravery, and being brave doesn't always mean you're being smart."

The quiet boy chewed the inside of his cheek at this. 'I understand.'

"And what about you?" Moriomi spoke up, giving the half-ghoul a concerned look. "How are you doing?"

"My throat feels dry," Riley said weakly. "I used my heat ability for too long, I think. That's probably another reason I was passed out."

"Heat thing? What are you…" the redhead's eyes widened. "You mean that bullshit excuse wasn't bullshit?"

"No, it wasn't! Were you paying attention when he told the others?" the dark-haired teen asked.

"So, you're not just a one-eye, you're like some sort of fire monster thing?" Tetsuomi tilted his head in thought. "W-Wait, did you wear your eyepatch when you were…" the redhead's jaw dropped when the tall boy shook his head. "Oh shit! They'll be combing the entire city for you!"

"Good thing we're leaving the city then?" the hybrid tilted his head mutely. "I mean, enough of the doves saw me that they'll be looking for tall people with blue eyes, and if I wear an eyepatch it'll look more suspicious-"

"Fan-fucking-tastic!" Tetsuomi groaned.

"And you, you're fine with this?" Moriomi asked his new girlfriend. "T-The hybrid thing, that is?"

"It's...a surprise, I think. Not a bad one," Minami cocked her head to the side and placed a hand on her chin. "I just have a _lot _of questions, and it's a lot to take in."

"I'd answer them, but I'd like a glass of water first," the half-ghoul tiredly ran a hand through his silver hair. "I'm okay with talking about it, but I don't wanna lose my voice or anything."

"That's fine, Kenta is standing already," the redhead said cheerfully.

'Why do I have to get him water?'

"Because I'm still thinking of ways to tease these two," Tetsuomi jabbed a finger in the direction of the new couple with a smug grin. "Also, we need to figure out your situation with the tunnels, Uruka."

The ghoulette let out an annoyed sigh. "I knew this was gonna come up…"

* * *

**24th Ward, Tokyo**

"Hey, shorty! You're really pissing me off!" Eric dodged as a deluge of Ukaku shards flew his way, and smirked as the girl slid to a halt. "Ohoho~! It looks like I hit a nerve there...you don't like being called short is that it?"

The cloaked girl didn't answer, instead forming one of her wings into a thin blade and sweeping it across the ground, throwing dust up to obscure her form. The giant simply clicked his teeth in response, and vaulted into the dust cloud, tail whipping around to grab anything of her he could find.

"E-EEP!"

"Ooh, that was your butt, wasn't it?" the tall half-ghoul shrugged as the girl fell onto her back. "You're not my type, but I can at least give my boss a review of the goods," he leaned forward with a wild grin as she tried to crawl away. "Come on sweetie, can't I get a response out of you or something? You're breaking my balls here, shortstack-"

"Don't call me short!" she cried out, stabbing an elongated ukaku blade in his direction.

"There we go! Now we have a voice, just need a face," the giant smirked as he dodged the girl's strike. "Maybe a name too? What's your name, cutie?"

"Fuck you!"

"Fuck You? Interesting name for a kid. Makes my middle name sound normal," Eric's tail snapped forward, grabbing the smaller hybrid by the leg. A dark chuckle emanated from his throat as he pulled her across the floor. "Yeah, struggle for me, sweetheart. That's always the _best_ part."

The girl clawed at the ground as she tried to resist the pull of the giant's tail. The tall half-ghoul let out a snort, then his tail flicked the girl into the wall, causing an audible crack to erupt into the air. The air in the smaller hybrid's lungs rushed out of her as she slumped to the ground.

"Alright then Yoshimura, enough playing around," the teen clicked his teeth as he stalked over to the girl. He leaned down and grabbed her by the chin, lifting her head and turning it two and fro as locks of her hair fell across her face. "Woah-ho! Green hair?! Wow, like I couldn't already tell this was a goddamn anime."

"W-Why?" the green-haired girl rasped. "Why me? W-What did I do to deserve all of this? P-Please just leave me alone!"

Eric tilted his head impassively as the small half-ghoul sobbed into the ground. "If I'm being honest with myself, that's not really my place to say _why_. Just to bring you to my boss," the giant tilted his head in thought. "Maybe you can ask him why. I'm sure that once you're in his hands, you'll be..._satisfied_," the teen smirked at the girl's confused expression. "And if you aren't, well...sucks for you then, you hole."

The girl curled into a ball as her sobbing continued. "N-No...no...this isn't...father shouldn't have-"

"Oh, your dad? He was an asshole," upon seeing her lack of reaction, the tall boy's eyes narrowed. "Well, that's my opinion at least. I mean, he dumped you down here to make it so that finding you would be like finding a needle in a haystack. And when we went to him, he told us jack shit about you. We didn't even know you were a girl...until I uh 'convinced' him to tell," the teen smirked at the girl's flinch. "And that was _before_ the torture."

"T-Torture?"

"Yeah, if you've ever read 1984...well, you probably haven't, but to give you a rundown," Eric held up four fingers in front of the girl. "How many fingers am I holding up?"

"F-Four!"

***SNAP***

"AAAAAAIIIEEEE!"

"Hmm, wrong!" the teen's smile showed wicked teeth as he bent her right arm the wrong way even further. "I was holding up _five_ fingers. You're an idiot!"

"You...you-"

"And that was just an example. Letting your father know how bad he was at math was the tip of the iceberg," the giant tilted his head, bugging out his eyes as he leaned towards the girl. "You know, we still have what's left of _her_ in storage."

"W-What? What do you mean?"

"You know what I mean! _Her_, the reason you're here," Eric's smile stretched wider when the girl gasped in realization. "Your old man only figured it out after I had already fed him pieces of his whore's corpse-"

"SHUT UP!"

The girl's kagune coiled around her left arm, forming a sharp blade with feather-like protrusions around her limb. The giant barely had time to react before she stabbed him straight through his chest, pinning him to the wall. Her single kakugan burned with rage, which the teen matched with sadistic glee.

"Ohoho! You're a fiery one, aren't ya?" Eric's kagune shifted slightly as it split, the spines covering it shifting as they became more akin to the processes of a bony spine. As the tall half-ghoul pried the girl's kagune out of his torso and strangled her limbs"My boss is really gonna enjoy you~"

The giant's capture attempt was only thwarted when the wall behind him was cracked apart by some unseen force. Almost a dozen thick tendrils, dark-red to the point of nearly being black and covered in fanged mouths, advanced on the tall boy. The toothy maws gnashed and nipped at Eric as he dodged, all while smashing and cracking the area around them apart.

Then the teen saw one of the tendrils gently wrapping around the girl, pulling her out of the grasp of his own kagune, and straight into the cloud of dust the fanged tails had thrown up. In the cloud was a tall, obscured figure whom Eric couldn't quite discern the location of. The figure bolted, their kagune twisting around and cracking more stone around the area, further blocking the tall hybrid's vision.

"Motherfucker! You can't fucking do that!" the giant cried out as he gave chase. "I caught her fair and square, you get the fuck back here! I'll kill you! I'll kill you! I'll kill you dead!"

Eric ran as fast as he could, following whatever path he imagined the unknown ghoul could have taken. The tall teen ran for what must have been an hour, looking for any sign of either the girl or her unseen savior. Even after double checking for any scent, all he could find was a faint odor of blood that was much too far away for him to pursue.

All the boy could do was fall to his knees, a loud growl escaping his mouth.

"GOD FUCKING DAMMIT!"

"Eric?!"

"Eh?!" the tall hybrid stiffened at the familiar voice calling out to him. When he turned his head to look down one corridor, he saw several V agents running towards him. "Oh, now you guys show up!"

"Eric!" Keita charged past the other agents, and slammed into the giant with a moderate amount of force, pulling him into an inescapable hug. "Eric! It's been like four days, man! We thought you were dead! What happened to-"

"Keita, if you do not remove yourself from me, I will break all fourteen bones in your face," the teen activated his single kakugan and glared at the other agent coldly. "Starting with _both _zygomatic bones."

Keita pulled away from the hug and held his hands up defensively. "Hehe, alright man, sorry! Guess you're not a hugger…"

Kaiko let out a low chuckle as he stalked towards them, a smile on his face as he reached out to help the tall boy to his feet. "Eric, so good to see you again...you look like shit," the white-eyed man tilted his head as the hybrid dusted himself off. "Care to tell us what happened?"

"So, when I got away from the Crab asshole, I ended up in the Green Zone," the giant let out a loud snort. "They weren't thrilled to see me there, like you said...but, I found out where Subject 3 is hiding."

"The Green Zone?" Kaiko cocked an eyebrow as the tall boy nodded. "That complicates things...anything else of note there?"

"Oh, just their leader. Purple haired girl, glasses, nice rack, rinkaku-type," Eric clicked his teeth angrily. "Kinda looked like the boss."

"L-Looked like the boss?"

"Yeah, same face, even the same kagune," the half-ghoul frowned at the white-eyed man's contemplative look. "Something wrong?"

"Seems you found our escaped heiress...we'll have to look into it," Kaiko tilted his head at the boy with a tired expression. "Is that all?"

"No, you _just _missed Yoshimura's daughter by about 10 minutes."

"WHAT?!"

"Yeah, had the little slut right where I wanted her, and suddenly some guy with fangs all over his tails comes out of a wall and pulls her away," the hybrid's mouth twisted into a snarl. "Damn bitch nailed me in the gut pretty good, too."

"You saw Kuzen's daughter?!" the white-eyed man sputtered. "You-you-you almost had her _captured_?"

"Yeah, and I fucked it up at the last minute-"

"Technically you didn't," Keita offered gently. "I mean, what, we're supposed to know that she had some guardian or something? That can't be pinned on you."

"S-Still, you saw her?" Kaiko hissed, flinching back when the giant nodded. "What did she look like? Any descriptions?"

"She wore a big hooded cloak that covered most of her face...what I did see looked like her old lady's face though," the half-ghoul shrugged. "She's got Kuzen's kagune though. Hair color is maybe...seafoam green? Didn't get a good look in the low lighting."

"Anything our bosses might want to hear?"

"She's got great legs, a pretty nice ass, and I thought I felt a nice _pair_ at one point when I had my kagune strangling her just a bit," the teen clicked his teeth angrily. "Other than that, she was annoying to deal with. The sooner the boss gets a chance to stuff her mouth shut, the better."

"Isn't she like...10?!" an agent called out from the back.

"Do you honestly think Tsune-sama will care?" the tall boy drawled out loudly. "Must have forgotten who your boss is already, huh?"

"Yes, I agree. It seems we've overstayed our welcome for quite a bit," Kaiko said grimly. "We've had a few kakuja come at us, and we weren't prepared to deal. Eric, we'll have a report to make when we get back."

"Yeah, sure thing Kaiko-sensei," the giant nodded. "So, off to the exit then…"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't think I leave enough of these, but the "*" symbols sometimes mean I was trying to add something at the end of a chapter that gave certain conversations or events context. I just forget about them.
> 
> *So, this story is taking place in the late 90s/early 2000s. That means before the 2010 and 2020 studies that found out a lot of the European, Asain, and some North African populations had Neanderthal ancestry, which meant that Neanderthals had hybridized with modern humans in archaic times but all Neanderthal traits from these subsequent hybrids were basically absorbed into our greater human traits. Since ghouls in TG proper are meant to either be a sister species or subspecies to humans, hybridization would be more like wolves and dogs, and may even lead to hybrid speciation rather than infertile hybrids.
> 
> **Riley's kagune here is shaped like a carnivorous caterpillar from the Eupithecia genus. These species occur in Hawaii due to its environment. If you look up "carnivorous caterpillar" on youtube/google, you'll get a good idea as to what it's supposed to look like.


End file.
